England were beaten by Greece for the first time in Thursday night’s UEFA Nations League clash, losing in stoppage time after Jude Bellingham looked to have clawed back an equaliser.
Greece had never scored on three previous visits to the (old) Wembley Stadium in 1971, 1983 and 1994, but broke that streak early in the second half through Vangelis Pavlidis.
Bellingham pulled England level with 87 minutes remaining but Pavlidis, who was England’s main tormentor all night, had the last word for the visitors as Lee Carsley tasted his first defeat since taking over as to caretaker manager, and England lost a competitive opener at Wembley. in four years.
How the game developed
It was a bright start from England, with Bellingham smacking the palms of Newcastle United goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos from the edge of the box and Cole Palmer, who started his first competitive international, making waves the top of the net with a free kick. But Greece also threatened a dangerous counter-attack which striker Pavlidis was unable to finish off.
An almighty blunder from Jordan Pickford, who channeled his inner Rene Higuita trying to dribble into midfield after rushing out of his goal, almost gave Greece the lead. But Anastasios Bakasetas’ opportunistic shot at goal was heroically saved off the line by Levi Colwill. The England keeper did not inspire confidence moments later when he tried to claim a high ball but West Ham United’s Kostas Mavropanos beat him to it. The resulting goal was ruled out for offside.
For England’s dominance, Greece went close again midway through the first half when John Stones deflected a Bakasetas shot to safety just in front of Pickford. Immediately at the other end, Palmer fired a glorious chance over the bar after Bellingham’s cut-back. Anthony Gordon should have done better with a header, after ghosting himself in the box.
But the quality and intensity waned as the interval approached, with Greece increasingly defending the penalty area and England struggling to find their way.
England were left cold when play resumed, doing nothing to stop Pavlidis dancing through a crowded penalty area and firing a low shot past Pickford. He dedicated the goal to George Baldock, the England-born Greek international who died this week.
With his tail up and playing for his late teammate (both sets of players wore black armbands in tribute), Pickford had to deal with a Bakasetas shot in a somewhat unorthodox way. England were very lucky not to fall two goals behind when Giorgos Masouras applied a clinical finish to a through ball from Pavlidis, who was offside in the build-up, and eventually scored as a result.
Despite some impressive energy from substitute Noni Madueke, England looked labored and without a plan as the game wore on. Greece continued to create, though, and had the ball in the net for the fourth time on the night when Pavlidis turned in from Christos Tzolis’ pass. England had lost possession cheaply after Pickford’s throw-in but were saved, not by a flag, but by VAR who ruled it offside.
Bellingham looked to have saved England in the end, slotting the ball into the net after Dominic Solanke’s low ball evaded everyone in the middle, allowing the Real Madrid man to find himself on the edge of the box. Vlachodimos got a hand on the finish but it was too powerful.
The tie lasted only a few minutes until stoppage time when Pavlidis was able to tip the ball into the net in an area full of people. In the end, it was poor defending from England, they couldn’t clear their lines, but Greece, already on a fifth strike, deserved the win.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 4/10 – He didn’t get off to a good start, almost conceding a couple of goals to Greece, but was rescued once by a teammate and then by an offside flag. After a miscued kick, the visitors scored a second which was ruled out by VAR for offside.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Guilty defensively for Greece’s breakthrough. He’s made quite a bit of progress, but he lacked options without a focal point of attack for the first hour.
CB: John Stones (c) – 4/10 – He handed over the captain’s armband for the first time. Too weak in his attempted challenge against Pavlidis as Greece took the lead. Not the leader he should have been.
CB: Levi Colwill – 6/10 – He cleared the ball just in time after Pickford went close early on.
LB: Rico Lewis – 5/10 – He wasn’t afraid to look for the ball and get into midfield. Poor for Greece’s second goal which won the match.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 5/10 – He struggled to get into the game and was injured just minutes into the second half.
CM: Cole Palmer – 6/10 – Fans expected the Nets to believe when Bellingham gave them a chance in the first half. He ended up moving to the right flank as tactics changed and faded away.
CM: Declan Rice – 5/10 – He passed the ball accurately, but mostly backwards and sideways. He didn’t seem to have control of the midfield and lost more duels than he won.
LM: Anthony Gordon – 4/10 – He missed a header from a promising position, but generally saw less of the ball than Saka on the opposite flank. He didn’t play to his strengths, which is running at defenders.
ST: Phil Foden – 4/10 – I haven’t really been able to find his role in the system that England started with. There were sporadic moments of connection with Bellingham but Greece closed the gaps quite easily.
ST: Jude Bellingham – 6/10 – He almost proved England’s savior once again with the final equalizer to make it 1-1. It hadn’t been a brilliant performance up to that point and he even looked pretty disinterested in the play he scored from until suddenly the ball rolled to him.
Substitutes
SUB: Noni Madueke (52′ for Saka) – 7/10 – He took the game to Greece more than any England player.
SUB: Ollie Watkins (60′ for Gordon) – 6/10 – I would have expected this to be his night without Kane. He had to settle for half an hour off the bench.
SUB: Dominic Solanke (72′ for Foden) – 6/10 – Credited with an assist, but it wasn’t really Bellingham looking for the pass.
Subs not used: Dean Henderson (GK), Nick Pope (GK), Kyle Walker, Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi, Curtis Jones, Conor Gallagher, Angel Gomes.
manager
Lee Carsley – 5/10 – He was unable to call on Harry Kane and lined up without a recognized striker, even with Ollie Watkins available. That didn’t really work and I was ready to turn things around relatively early in the second half. Only three offside goals ensured it wasn’t embarrassing.
