Greece 0 England 3: Lee Carsley's Watkins gamble pays off as Pickford and Curtis Jones impress

England regained control of their Nations League group on Thursday evening, beating Greece 3-0 in Athens.

Lee Carsley’s surprise decision to pick Ollie Watkins paid off after just seven minutes, the Aston Villa striker poking England into the lead after good work from Noni Madueke on the right wing. It was a deserved reward after a bright start, with England recording almost as much xG in the opening 18 minutes (0.69) as they did in the whole of the reverse fixture at Wembley last month (0.84). Greece rallied midway through the half but England were good value for their lead at the break.

An impressive Jude Bellingham headed against the post in the second half, while Jordan Pickford produced a wonderful save from Fotis Ioannidis to maintain his side’s advantage. England needed to win by two goals to go above Greece in the table and two goals in five minutes did the job, firstly an own goal from Odisseas Vlachodimos followed by a clever flick from the impressive Curtis Jones on his international debut.

Here, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down some of the key talking points from the game.

Ollie Watkins over Harry Kane — did it work?

The big story here was the decision to play Ollie Watkins over Harry Kane up front. It was an incredible call, especially from a manager taking charge of his penultimate England game.

And in a sense it worked. Watkins scored, England eventually got a second then a third and go back to the top of the group. Watkins turned in Madueke’s cross early in (in truth the sort of goal Harry Kane has scored for years), and he continued to test Greece with his movement without ever looking at his best. If he had taken Rico Lewis’ pass in his stride at the end of the first half England would have been safe earlier than they were.

Eventually Carsley had to turn to Kane, and he did help England to keep the ball in the Greek half better than they had done before then. Kane did not get a goal himself but he did not need to, as England finished the game the stronger side.

So Carsley can feel like he gambled and won. Although England were under huge pressure before their second goal. On another day Greece would have equalised, or England would have only won by one, and then Carsley would have been pilloried. It was a huge risk, not just with this game but with his whole reputation. But it came off.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Jude Bellingham had space… and took advantage of it

One of England’s problems in the last few years has been that everyone wants to play number 10. In the Euros this summer Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham kept getting in each other’s way, while Cole Palmer could barely even get on the pitch. When Harry Kane plays the problem only gets worse.

But this England team almost looked perfectly set up to make space for Bellingham to motor into. With two wide wingers, a striker who runs in behind, and a solid midfield base behind him, Bellingham was free to drive England forward himself. Without worrying who might get in his way. The result was Bellingham’s best England performance for a long time, far more progressive and dynamic than the player we saw in Germany. This was more like the Bellingham we saw at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, always moving England up the pitch.

England’s second goal came from another classic Bellingham run through the middle, leading the charge forward before shooting from the edge of the box, his shot rolling in via the post and goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos.

Watkins’ goal came from Bellingham’s clever chip to Noni Madueke, and whenever Bellingham got the ball his first instinct was forwards. He was not perfect, holding onto the ball too long on one break, failing to get a shot off before he was tackled.

But he played like the leader he wants to be, even despite a pointless early booking for dissent. Thomas Tuchel will want this version of Bellingham. He will just want some of the other missing players alongside him too.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Jordan Pickford is back to his inspirational best

In a must-win fixture with a defence that was missing multiple starters due to injury, England needed Pickford to be at his very best. The Everton goalkeeper endured a difficult night against Greece at Wembley last month, looking jittery in possession — even needing a early Levi Colwill goal-line clearance to spare his blushes after giving the ball away near the edge of his own area — and flapping at a couple of crosses into the box.

However, on the back of his best match of the season for the Toffees — a 0-0 draw with West Ham United — Pickford established himself yet again as England’s undisputed No 1 ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s arrival. On multiple occasions, he swept up behind his defence brilliantly, with his positioning from crosses and confidence in punching the ball out standing out too.

Arguably his standout moments, however, came during Greece’s periods of ascendancy across both halves with the score at 1-0. Pickford first made an excellent near-post save to deny Merseyside derby rival Kostas Tsimikas in the first half before making himself big to deny Fotis Iannidis with a finger-tip save around the hour mark. The saves punctuated a strong showing in a must-win match as England moved back to the top of their Nations League group.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

Curtis Jones’ impressive debut

Curtis Jones looked bright on his debut, forming an effective midfield partnership with Conor Gallagher and Jude Bellingham. The Liverpool midfielder helped with England’s progression from deep while Gallagher shielded the defence, giving Bellingham the freedom to roam around the pitch and play his part in the Three Lions’ first two goals.

The Liverpool midfielder’s impact seemed to fade a bit in the second half as England reshuffled their defence and dropped deeper, allowing Greece more time and space on the ball. However, as the hosts pushed men forward, Bellingham punished them with a run that ended in Odysseas Vlachodimos’ own goal and that brought Jones back into the game. His willingness to collect the ball from a makeshift defence and feed the forwards helped England re-establish control.

Jones then topped it all off in the 83rd minute by scoring with a cheeky flick from substitute Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass to seal the three points. He ended his England debut with 62 passes completed (95 per cent accuracy), made four tackles and won seven of his nine ground duels. An impressive start to his international career.