With Grealish scoring in the first half and Alexander-Arnold and Rice in the second, England beat Finland 3-1 to stay top of League B Group 2 of the Nations League.
After the electric shock they received a few 24 hours ago at “Wembley”, losing for the first time in their history to the Greek national team (1-2), England traveled to Helsinki with the sole aim of recovering three points part. wounds and he found, even he met with the good looks.
Against Finland, who had won three of their opening games in League B Group 2, Lee Carlsley’s side dominated for most of the game and scored three goals, with Grealish, Alexander-Arnold and Rice getting the final scores. 3-. 1 which put the “three lions” to the top, level with Greece but with more games in the League of Nations this year.
The game
Finland came into the game stronger and had a great chance to score in the 7th minute, Keskinen’s shot going past Henderson’s right-hand post, but England then took control and closed the hosts down to frame them.
That push made it 1-0 to Lee Carsley’s side, with Gomes making a superb vertical pass and Grealish meeting Hrateski to beat him with a cool right-footed cross. This goal allowed England to dictate their game until half-time, with Finland turning up the heat in the final stretch until half-time with 2-3 good chances to equalise.
In the 33rd minute Keskinen threatened again, this time his shot ended up in Henderson’s arms, and in the 38th minute Jensen put the ball over the crossbar from an advantageous position and the English keeper responded positively with 45′ neutralizing Kalmar’s shot.
At the start of the second half England’s first dangerous shot by Palmer (49′) was blocked by Hrateski, with Finland however going for an equalizer in the 56th minute through Jensen when his high area shot put the ball over Henderson’s crossbar.
After the hour mark, both teams proceeded with the first corrective moves from the bench (Watkins and Madueke replaced Kane and Palmer in the 63rd minute), before a set piece in the 74th minute to throw titles at the Bench. the end of the game.
Alexander-Arnold was the one who beat Hrateski with a wonderful free kick and made it 2-0 for the “three lions”, then the Finns were looking for a reaction goal but it came from England.
Watkins cut nicely into the area from the left and turned, with Rice hitting the ball at the far post to make it 3-0 with a display from the top of the box, to the adoration of his partners.
All the home team managed to score the goal of honors in the 87th minute through Hoskonen (his first shirt in the national crest), with 1-3 going into the final and allowing the English National Greece to build at the top of the group standings, even with more games.
- FINLAND: Hrateski, Alho (82′ Andman), Hoskonen, Ivanov, Uronen, Kamara, Suler (63′ Valta), Peltola, Jensen (75′ Lund), Kalman (63′ Pojanpalo), Keskinen (75′ Puki).
- England: Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Gwehi, Walker, Rice (85′ Gallagher), Gomes (80′ Lewis), Palmer (69′ Madueke), Grealish, Kane (69′ Watkins), Bellingham (80′ Foden)
- 1st, direct promotion to League A
- 2nd, promotion playoffs to League A
- 3rd, League C relegation matches
- 4th, direct release to C Series
Results of the 4th round
- Finland – England 1-3 (87′ Hosconen / 18′ Grealish, 74′ Alexander-Arnold, 84′ Rice)
- 13/10 21:45 Greece – Ireland