England vs Republic of Ireland live updates: Nations League match ...

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England 3-0 Republic of Ireland – latest
Three changes for Republic of Ireland

67' England 3-0 Republic of Ireland

England vs Ireland - Figure 1
Photo The Athletic

With the game now beyond Republic of Ireland, the visitors have made three changes:

On: Ryan Manning, Finn Azaz, Troy ParrottOff: Festy Ebosele, Callum O'Dowda, Evan Ferguson
How quickly the game changed

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65' England 3-0 Republic of Ireland

Conceding a penalty was bad news for the visitors, but that bad news was compounded tenfold by Liam Scales being shown a second yellow card.

As soon as Kane's penalty hit the bottom corner, it was pretty clear that Republic of Ireland would wilt under the pressure. But how quickly they wilted will have been a surprise to pretty much everyone inside Wembley.

A frustrating evening has rapidly turned into a very good one for Carsley and England — and it all stemmed from a sublime pass from Kane into Bellingham.

Harwood-Bellis on for his England debut

62' England 3-0 Republic of Ireland

That flurry of goals has allowed Carsley to hand out his eighth senior debut.

England vs Ireland - Figure 2
Photo The Athletic

Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis, a long-time captain of the Under-21s, has replaced Kyle Walker.

Floodgates well and truly open at Wembley

60' England 3-0 Republic of Ireland

The floodgates have opened!

Madueke's corner, Guehi's near post flick, and Gallagher tapped in at the far post.

From nowhere, England are 3-0 up. You can smell the Nations League A-tier from here.

GOAL: Gallagher makes it three!

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58' England 3-0 Republic of Ireland

A crazy six-minute period — England lead 10-man Republic of Ireland by three goals!

Although, we've got a VAR check...

How England doubled their advantage

57' England 2-0 Republic of Ireland

The Newcastle fans watching will have enjoyed that one! Livramento burst down the right wing and aimed a cross into the Republic of Ireland penalty area.

The cross was actually a poor one but the two Irish defenders made a total mess of attempting to clear it. The ball dropped for Gordon at the back post and his finish was assured, firing into the bottom left corner.

England vs Ireland - Figure 3
Photo The Athletic

A first England goal for Gordon in his ninth appearance.

GOAL: Gordon makes it 2-0!

56' England 2-0 Republic of Ireland

And, just like that, England have doubled their lead!

Anthony Gordon has his first senior international goal.

All the credit to Kane for the opener

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54' England 1-0 Republic of Ireland

Incredible flat diagonal pass from Kane to Bellingham to make that opening.

Taking the penalty, he paused during his run-up and hammered into the back of the net.

Is that the first time we have seen a stuttered penalty run-up from Kane?

GO FURTHER

The evolution of Harry Kane’s penalty kicks

GOAL: Kane makes no mistake!

53' England 1-0 Republic of Ireland

Kane sends Kelleher the wrong way and England lead at Wembley!

PENALTY: Bellingham fouled in the box and Scales is sent off!

51' England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

In the blink of an eye, the game has completely changed!

England vs Ireland - Figure 4
Photo The Athletic

England have a penalty after Jude Bellingham was fouled in the penalty area by Liam Scales. The Republic of Ireland defender had already been shown a yellow card, so he has been sent off.

Captain Kane — who provided a superb pass for Bellingham in that move — will take.

Which players can Carsley turn to?

50' England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

Lee Carsley has lots of options on his bench.

The technical and tactical awareness of Rico Lewis could help, if he replaces Tino Livramento at right-back.

Maybe the composure of the metronomic passer Angel Gomes would be more useful in possession than the industrious Conor Gallagher, too.

And, dare I say it, the mobility, dynamism, and pressing ability of Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke could help to stretch the Irish defence vertically and create space between the lines. We haven't seen much from Kane so far.

Early second-half pressure from England

48' England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

England vs Ireland - Figure 5
Photo The Athletic

Harry Kane was hardly involved in the game in the first half, other than for the yellow card he was shown in its closing stages.

He has already done more in this second half than he did in the first, hanging an inviting ball in the air for Anthony Gordon to attack a few yards from goal. But, as they did for the entirety of the first 45 minutes, the Republic of Ireland defence were able to clear their lines.

More of that needed from the home side.

Second half underway!

46' England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

After a break for refreshment, the players are back out and ball is rolling courtesy of Jude Bellingham.

No half-time changes for either team — let's see how long that lasts if it stays 0-0.

Half-time score: Greece level with Finland

In the other match in England's group, their promotion rivals Greece are deadlocked at the halfway stage against already relegated Finland in Helsinki.

England won't want to rely on the Finns getting a draw, but if they do, a draw here would be enough to top the group and move up to the top tier.

England vs Ireland - Figure 6
Photo The Athletic
Half-time stats pack

The stats paint as good a picture of that first half as you'll need — it was terrible.

England 0-0 Republic of IrelandShots: 8 – 0Shots on target: 0 – 0xG: 0.42 – 0.00Possession: 74% – 26%Corners: 5 – 0Accurate passes: 326 – 90Tackles: 5 – 13Fouls committed: 4 – 4Yellow cards: 3 – 2
Visitors struggling without an out ball

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HT England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland are struggling to break out of their deep and narrow defensive shape.

Early in the half, the flying Festy Ebosele embarked on a long and winding dribble up the right touchline but after beating several men, was finally run off it by Marc Guehi.

It just demonstrated the lack of passing options in attack and how the away side have been unable to relieve the pressure by earning territory and getting themselves up the pitch.

That said, they will be perfectly happy with how well they've stopped England in attack.

England vs Ireland - Figure 7
Photo The Athletic
Contrasting first-half emotions

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Contrasting emotions for both teams in that first 45.

Midway through the first half Lee Carsley, straying narrowly beyond his technical area, urged his team to calm down in possession by waving his hands downwards in the universal sign language for 'chill out'.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland have been drawing on their emotional reserves to empower and inspire them.

First, Festy Ebosele drew roars from the away faithful as he whipped them up after a crunching tackle on opposite man Lewis Hall.

Then Jayson Molumby released a fist pump after Liam Scales careered into a firm, but fair, tackle on Harry Kane.

Changes needed from Carsley

HT England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

Well that was pretty bad.

Republic of Ireland defended very well but England were poor in possession and are starting to look fragile in defence.

Changes are needed at half-time from Carsley with England's Nations League A-tier status at stake!

HALF-TIME: Goalless at the break

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HT England 0-0 Republic of Ireland

And that is all for the first half.

Not one that will live long in the memory, that one.

A great display from the Republic of Ireland defence but a pretty dismal one from an England perspective.

The good news: it can only get better in the second half...

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