ENGLAND THRASH IRELAND AND RETURN TO TOP NATIONS LEAGUE

England were promoted back to League A in the UEFA Nations League as Lee Carsley ended his spell as interim head coach with a 5-0 win over the 10-man Republic of Ireland.

Anthony Gordon and Taylor Harwood-Bellis scored their first international goals as the Three Lions cruised to an easy win after a frustrating opening period.

England found it difficult to break the Irish defense in the first half, with the main talking point from the opening 45 minutes being whether the visitors deserved a penalty when Kyle Walker brought down Sammie Szmodics.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock in a hugely contrasting second half, scoring three goals in five minutes after Liam Scales was shown a red card for his foul on Jude Bellingham and awarded a penalty, which Harry Kane converted with conviction.

England quickly doubled their lead when Gordon whipped in his club teammate Tino Livramento’s cross, before Connor Gallagher stabbed home for a third from close range.

Jarrod Bowen came off the bench and scored with his first touch to put the hosts further ahead, before Harwood-Bellis directed a header past Caoimhin Kelleher to end a memorable evening.