England defeated hosts Greece 3-0 in their Nations League match on Thursday to top Group B2 going into their final matchday against Ireland, playing for promotion.

Goals from Ollie Watkins, a Greek own goal and a late Curtis Jones tap-in on his debut gave England a comfortable win, taking them to 12 points from five games.

They are ahead on goal difference over Greece, who beat them 2-1 in London last month.

The visitors flew into Greece without nine players – including Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold – who withdrew from interim boss Lee Carsley’s squad due to injuries.

Captain Harry Kane had sharply criticized the withdrawals, saying country must always come before the club.

Kane surprisingly remained on the bench until the second half, but there was nothing lax about their start, with England comfortably controlling possession and conceding an early goal from Watkins.

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“It shows we are going in the right direction. We are not getting too carried away, we have a big game at Wembley on Sunday,” said England interim boss Lee Carsley.

“We have a lot of excellent talent. The players who weren’t there, we focused on the ones who were there. They took their chance today.

“People talked last night about the inexperience in the squad, but these players are playing for their clubs at a very high level.”

Watkins tapped into the lead in the seventh minute after Noni Madueke’s cutback, making his first start in England.

Greece, who made their first attempt at goal after 25 minutes, gradually came into the match and had a golden opportunity to level after half an hour, but Kostas Tsimikas’ shot from the penalty area was deflected wide by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford beaten.

The visitors came close again in the 53rd, but keeper Odisseas Vlachodimos stopped a Rico Lewis shot before Jude Bellingham saw his header bounce off the post seconds later.

With Greece pushing for an equalizer that would secure promotion for them, Pickford had to come to the rescue again in the 63rd minute, putting Fotis Ioannidis’ curling shot wide before England struck twice late on to seal the tie and retain the advantage achieve for the team. last day of play.

Jude Bellingham’s shot in the 78th bounced off the post and then off the back of Vlachodimos for an own goal.

Jones added a third four minutes later with a cheeky tap-in.

“In the first 25-30 minutes we let them circulate the ball too much,” said Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos. “In the second half we took risks that did not yield results.

“The early goal hit us, but in those 25 minutes we just gave England too much space and possession.”

The Greeks sit second after their first defeat of the campaign and travel to Finland for their final match. The best team wins promotion, while the second-placed player plays off in a play-off.