Red card tips scales as ruthless England run riot

Ten-man Ireland were hammered 5-0 by England following a second-half collapse at Wembley Stadium.

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side battled through a scoreless opening half, however, the floodgates opened following Harry Kane’s opening goal from the penalty spot eight minutes after the break.

Liam Scales was sent off for a second booking after the concession of the spot-kick, before a turbo-charged England quickly added two more through Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher.

Lee Carsley’s side were not finished, however, and two more goals arrived from substitutes Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis before the final whistle as Ireland ended their 2024 calendar with a whimper at the London venue.

A heavy military exercise ahead of the game stirred the patriotism in all sections of the stadium, which led to the disappointing, yet expected, mutual disrespect for the national anthems.

England burst out of the blocks with a ball over the top for Noni Madueke setting out their stall inside the opening 60 seconds. Nothing from it but four minutes later, the Chelsea man was again attacking on the right.

Madueke skipped all too easily along the byline, and while his drilled cross was cleared, it allowed Curtis Jones to follow up with a well-hit shot that was deflected for a corner. Kyle Walker connected with a decent near-post header from the subsequent set-piece, but it flew over.

Early warning shots for Ireland, who were already camped along the edge of their own box with Festy Ebosele finally offering respite in the seventh minute as he took the ball out along the right flank.

But England kept the attack going, and Jude Bellingham was next to have a look at goal with; the shot blocked, the shout for handball waved away.

In the 12th minute, two Szmodics errors put pressure on the rearguard leading to another corner, but luckily for Ireland England wasted the set-piece.

Ireland, at least, were looking organised along the back line with Ebosele working extra hard tracking back, while Nathan Collins was dipping in and out of midfield when the opportunity presented itself – Heimir Hallgrimsson’s fluid formation in play once more.

Ebosele was enjoying himself on the big Wembley pitch; this time racing diagonally across the midfield and eventually stopped just outside the box.

Ireland were living off scraps going forward but were denied a penalty as Evan Ferguson went down in the box with defender Marc Guehi clearly holding a chunk of his jersey in the process.

It felt as though England would need something special to penetrate the well organised back line, however, when the chance did arrive in the 29th minute, it was through fortune rather than creativity as Madueke was inadvertently played in on goal from an Ireland header sideways out of defence.

Just yards from goal, if a little out to the right, the quick shot goalwards was smothered by the alert Ireland defence who reacted quickly to rectify the situation.

In the 36th minute, a long hopeful ball had England backpeddling, and Szmodics briefly looked to have gone through, but hit the turf after Walker mistimed his desperate attempt to clear with a diving header.

The penalty appeal was waved away, and replays suggest that Szmodics had left his leg trailing and was not tripped.

Scales gave the travelling fans something to cheer as he cleared Kane out of it with a crunching tackle; the Bayern Munich man had only himself to blame as his poor first touch handed the Celtic defender the perfect opportunity.

In the 41st minute, Ireland broke clear in numbers as Callum O’Dowda burst forward up the left, and was callously stopped by Madueke who had to prevent the attack from progressing.

A rare chance for the visitors to work a set-piece into the box, and while Scales climbed highest at the back post to help it back into the mix, the hosts eventually cleared.

But there was some welcome momentum building in this Irish team with Ferguson next to win a free inside England half, allowing more pressure forward.

Ebosele then feigned a long throw and played it quickly to get it back off Dara O’Shea before whipping a dangerous ball across the face, but it was too close to Jordan Pickford, who claimed comfortably.

A spate of yellow cards arrived to close out the half, with Scales needlessly cautioned for kicking the ball away, while Kane and Jaysomn Molumby went in the book for an off-the ball wrestle.

England were straight on the attack as play resumed, and in the 48th minute, Dara O’Shea had to be alert to get something on a clipped ball to the back post, with Anthony Gordon lurking with intent.

England finally penetrated the Ireland back line, however, as the slightly advanced position allowed the ball to arrive in between the defenders as Jude Bellingham rushed in, took the ball inside Scales, before hitting the deck under the weight of the mistimed challenged.

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No hesitation from the referee who pointed to the spot then duly brandished Scales with his second yellow card as Ireland were reduced to ten men.

Harry Kane stepped up to take the spot-kick and this time there were no Caoimhín Kelleher heroics as the striker sent him the wrong way, drilling the ball into the empty right side of the net.

It was the beginning of the end for Ireland who found themselves three down five minutes later as England scored twice inside two minutes.

Anthony Gordon bagged the second just three minutes later, after Tino Livramento raced down the right, doing well to keep it in play and whip the ball across the penalty area.

It should have been dealt with, however, as Collins and Josh Cullen somehow allowed the ball to his cross the face, allowing the arriving winger to steal in ahead of O’Shea and slam the ball past the keeper from close range.

Two became three in the 58th minute from a corner as Guehi’s near-post header was guided towards the back post with Gallagher steaming in to bundle it home from close range.

By now, it was one way traffic now, and with little sign of England relenting, with a good half hour to play, it was a case of how many they would end up with as they marched back towards the top tier of the competition.

The fourth arrived in the 76th minute following a well-worked free kick from the left side of the box as the ball was helped back, allowing the unmarked Jarrod Bowen – only on the pitch – to slam home from 12 yards out.

Ireland then scrambled one over the bar to deny a fifth, however, it was only a stay of execution, as England debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis crashed home a header a minute later following a tempting ball in from the right.

England kept going, determined to assert their complete control to the end, and by the final whistle, it really could have been pushing towards double digits as three quick chances were all denied as the game moved into three minutes of injury time.

Bowen almost added a second in the added time, but blasted just wide and Ireland were finally put out of their misery to end the Nations League campaign, as they had begun, on the end of a English humiliation.

England: Jordan Pickford, Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall, Kyle Walker (Taylor Harwood-Bellis 62), Marc Guéhi, Conor Gallagher (Dominic Solanke 75), Curtis Jones (Angel Gomes 79), Noni Madueke (Jarrod Bowen 75), Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon (Morgan Rogers 75), Harry Kane (capt)

Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher; Nathan Collins (capt), Liam Scales, Mark McGuinness; Dara O’Shea, Callum O’Dowda (Finn Azaz 66), Josh Cullen (Andrew Moran 76), Jayson Molumby; Festy Ebosele (Ryan Manning 66), Sammie Szmodics (Kasey McAteer 86), Evan Ferguson (66) Troy Parrott

Referee: Erik Lambrechts (BEL)

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