Lee Carsley’s bold decision to field an England side without a recognised striker backfired at Wembley Stadium on Thursday, as the Three Lions slumped to a 1-2 defeat against Greece – the first points dropped during his tenure as interim manager.
Wembley Stadium had fallen silent shortly before kick-off to commemorate the tragic passing of George Baldock, who was capped twelve times for Greece before being found dead in his home swimming pool on Wednesday night. The away end would later burst into raptures, with Vangelis Pavlodis dedicating his second-half opener to the former Sheffield United defender.
Jude Bellingham restored parity in the 87th minute, but disillusioned by a poor showing from the hosts, many of the 79,012 fans in attendance had already vacated their seats to head for the exits.
Pavlidis struck again inside five minutes of stoppage time, condemning England to their first defeat under Lee Carsley.
England face Finland in Helsinki on Sunday for the fourth game of their UEFA Nations League campaign, having recorded a 2-0 victory over Huuhkajat at Wembley Stadium last month.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs it happened
Returning to Wembley a month on from their 2-0 win over Finland, England wasted no time in testing Odysseas Vlachodimos as a Jude Bellingham strike from distance forced the Newcastle United shotstopper to tip over the bar inside five minutes.
Fans at the sold-out stadium would be treated to an end-to-end encounter, with the first of a plethora of nervy moments for the home fans coming as Vangelis Pavlidis curled wide of the far post after a rapid counterattack.
England’s best opportunity of the first half came soon after as a Cole Palmer free-kick delivery from just outside of the box skimmed the roof of the net, before Greece’s most notable chance followed seconds later as Jordan Pickford was caught in possession.
The goalkeeper had ventured out of his area, with a loose pass pounced upon by Dimitris Kourbelis. The Greek midfielder’s effort was hoofed off the line by Levi Colwill at the last second, ensuring the Three Lions remained yet to concede under Lee Carsley’s stewardship.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Ethniki had the ball in the back of the net from the remaining corner, only to be cruelly denied the opener by means of the offside flag which had been raised against Ntinos Mavropanos.
Yet another opportunity fell for Palmer at the halfway mark of the first period, with the Chelsea forward arriving in the box to meet a Bellingham cutback, but ultimately slicing his effort over the bar from twelve yards out.
The half-hour mark would present another chance for the hosts, with Trent Alexander-Arnold spotting Anthony Gordon’s advancing run. The Newcastle United forward latched onto the ball from deep perfectly, though he could only watch in despair as he nodded a first-time effort over the crossbar.
England’s failure to convert their first-half chances would come back to cost them dearly, as the visitors seized the lead just four minutes after the restart. Konstantinos Koulierakis picks out Pavlidis on the left, allowing the striker to cut inside and jink past a handful of England shirts before picking out the bottom-right corner with aplomb.
The Benfica forward wheeled away to celebrate in front of Greece’s sizeable travelling contingent, removing his black armband and holding it aloft to honour the late George Baldock.
Embed from Getty ImagesPavlidis looked to turn provider just ten minutes later as he surged free on the left flank, identifying a gaping hole in the England defence before rolling a pass into the centre of the box that was smashed home by Giorgos Masouras. The celebrations were cut short on that occasion though, with Pavlidis offside by quite a distance in the buildup.
It was at that point that Carsley finally conceded that his no-striker approach had failed. Ollie Watkins was introduced to the fray and had an almost instant impact, forcing himself between the Greek centre-back pairing before sending his shot flying over the horizontal.
But still, the visitors remained in control of the fixture and came astonishingly close to having the ball in the back of the net for a fourth time as Christos Tzolis dinked an effort over Pickford after Christos Zafeiris’ rapid break from an England corner. The Club Brugge forward couldn’t direct his effort on target though, with the offside flag then raised.
That pressure looked to have told in the 83rd minute, as Pavlidis seemingly completed his brace with a well-worked finish – only for a VAR check to confirm that the goalscorer had strayed marginally offside as he latched onto Tzolis’ delivery from the left flank.
Clearly disillusioned by a dreadful performance from the Three Lions, much of Wembley’s West Stand had already thinned out by the time Bellingham salvaged a point in the 87th minute. Connecting with Dominic Solanke’s ball from the right flank, the Real Madrid talisman smashed home a curling effort that was simply too strong for Vlachodimos to keep out.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut Greece were not content to settle for a share of the spoils after a truly dominant performance in northwest London, and found themselves ahead deep inside five minutes of stoppage time as Pavlidis slotted home once again to finally complete a well-deserved brace that could quite easily have been four goals, had the cards fallen his way.
And so, England fans will remain desperate to see a permanent Head Coach announced as the Three Lions’ preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup continue to heat up. Lee Carsley may have previously been considered amongst the frontrunners; he won’t have done himself any favours with tonight’s bold experiment.
The lineups
ENG: Pickford; Lewis, Colwill, Stones, Alexander-Arnold; Palmer, Rice; Gordon, Foden, Bellingham, Saka
GRE: Vlachodimos; Giannoulis, Koulierakis, Mavropanos, Rota; Siopia, Kourbelis; Tzolis, Bakasetas, Masouras; Pavlidis
