Carsley off to flying start as England outclass Ireland

England began life after Gareth Southgate in convincing fashion on Saturday, outclassing Ireland 2-0 in the Nations League with goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish giving interim manager Lee Carsley a debut win.
Carsley, who will oversee two games this month with a view to staying on through the autumn, represented Ireland as a player and it was the two of his team with Irish links –Rice and Grealish – who gave England an early lead that was never remotely under threat.
Rice played three games for Ireland before switching to the country of his birth, while Grealish played at under-age level for England’s near neighbour, who were also playing under new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson for the first time.
Nothing less than a convincing win over a nation ranked 54 places below them would do for Carsley to boost his credentials for the full-time role and the former England Under-21 coach stuck with Southgate’s stalwarts for his first outing.
The visitors, playing in the competition’s second-tier for the first time, took the lead moments after Ireland’s Sammie Szmodics forced Jordan Pickford into a smart save, with Anthony Gordon wasting a one-on-one before Rice stroked the ball soundly into the top corner.
The Arsenal midfielder, booed by the home fans throughout, opted not to celebrate his fourth England goal. Grealish showed no such restraint 15 minutes later when he tucked away a Rice cutback after some tidy English passing easily cut Ireland open.
England’s 352 completed first-half passes to Ireland’s 50-odd highlighted the gulf between the side and left Hallgrimsson in little doubt that there would be no repeat of his memorable Euro 2016 win over England while in charge of Iceland. England took their foot off the accelerator in the second half and Ireland finally showed some signs of life on the hour with the lively Ipswich attacker Szmodics flashing a shot just wide.
That was as close as the hosts got and England, who gave late debuts to Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White, should have added at least a third goal while seeing the game out at a comfortable pace.
In Tbilisi, Georgia thrashed the Czech Republic 4-1, firing home three goals in 13 minutes during the second half to cruise to victory in their Nations League Group B1 opener.
The Czechs tested the Georgian keeper early with a pair of headers in rematch of their 1-1 draw at Euro 2024 in June but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made no mistake from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute after he was fouled by Ladislav Krejci. Georgia doubled their lead after the restart on the counter with Giorgi Chakvetadze sliding the ball through the Czech keeper’s legs before Georges Mikautadze and Giorgi Kochorashvili netted three minutes apart in the 63rd and 66th minute.
Lukas Kalvach pulled a goal back for the Czechs in the 80th minute but the visitors failed to conjure much attacking threat despite having the majority of possession. Georgia next travel to face Albania while the Czechs host Ukraine.
Italy beat France, Belgium
win and Wales held
On Friday, Italy recovered from conceding inside 13 seconds to fight back and beat France 3-1, while Belgium beat Israel and Wales drew with Turkey. Bradley Barcola had opened the scoring at the Parc des Princes with the fastest ever goal by a France player, but the home side failed to build on that stunning start and Italy ran out deserved winners with Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori all on target.
The result is a boost for Luciano Spalletti’s Italy team after their poor showing at Euro 2024, when their defence of the title was ended limply by Switzerland in the last 16.
France, for whom captain Kylian Mbappe struggled to make an impact, picked up where they left off at the Euros, when they never found their best form despite reaching the semi-finals.
The winning start in this edition of the Nations League leaves Italy level at the top of Group A2 with Belgium, who beat Israel 3-1. Kevin De Bruyne scored twice for Belgium, including a penalty, either side of a Youri Tielemans goal and a Timothy Castagne own goal in a game played in Hungary after Belgian authorities decided the fixture was too high-risk to host.
Italy face Israel next on Monday, with that match taking place in Budapest due to the security situation in the Middle East. France play Belgium in Lyon.
Elsewhere on Friday, new Wales coach Craig Bellamy saw his side draw 0-0 with Turkiye in Cardiff in Group 4 of the second-tier League B. Turkiye left with a point despite having Baris Yilmaz sent off in the second half.
Erling Haaland drew a blank as Norway were held to a 0-0 draw on their long trip to Kazakhstan in Group B3, while Benjamin Sesko scored a penalty in Slovenia’s 1-1 draw with Austria in the same section. Romania, with veteran Mircea Lucescu back in charge, won 3-0 in Kosovo in Group C2.