close
close
Nations League LIVE: Finland – England 1:3 – 5 live comments, live text, team news, match statistics, report

Nations League LIVE: Finland – England 1:3 – 5 live comments, live text, team news, match statistics, report

1 minute, 21 seconds Read

England bounced back from an embarrassing Uefa Nations League defeat to Greece at Wembley but still failed to fully impress as they eventually beat Finland in Helsinki.

Interim coach Lee Carsley created six chances from the debacle against Greece, with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford replaced by Dean Henderson, but was only able to shine when the pointless side in 64th place in the group ran out of steam.

The recalled Jack Grealish calmed England's early nerves with a cool finish from Angel Gomes' superb pass in the 18th minute, while Finland wasted chances to put Carsley and his side under even more pressure before Trent Alexander-Arnold's brilliant free-kick in the The game was decided late in the game.

Declan Rice scored another goal from close range with six minutes remaining to ensure a more satisfactory appearance for Carsley and England.

Finland striker Fredrik Jensen was their worst offender as they tried to cause England more grief by missing good opportunities in the first half before somehow converting a shot over from just six yards out after the break.

Alexander-Arnold, playing at left-back in another of Carsley's breaks against convention, provided a rare moment of quality in a game completely lacking in quality by hitting a sublime free-kick from 25 meters after 74 minutes He shot past Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.

Finland were already on their feet at this point and Rice snuck into the game for an easy finish with three minutes left.

At least the Finns pleased the 32,000 spectators and received their deserved reward for their valiant efforts when Arttu Hoskonen scored when England failed to deal with a corner.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *