UEFA Nations league: England weigh options after Greece loss at Wembley 

Lee Carsley’s honeymoon period as England interim manager came to a crashing halt as a Vangelis Pavlidis double gave Greece a deserved 2-1 Nations League win at Wembley.

Carsley had appeared a shoo-in for the job ahead of kick-off, but his experimental England line-up and the disjointed performance which followed will raise more questions than answers as they fell to FIFA’s 48th-ranked side.

Pavlidis slotted Greece ahead five minutes into the second half after dancing past a number of England players, but the visitors almost led much earlier when it needed an acrobatic goal-line clearance from Levi Colwill to deny Tasos Bakasetas.

The visitors saw three more goals denied by narrow offside calls, indicative of England’s open and often porous defence, while a late scramble leading to Pavlidis’ 94th-minute winner was typical of their evening – and nothing less than Greece deserved.

Cole Palmer had blasted over England’s best chance of the night before that with Anthony Gordon also culpable when miscuing a header from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross, as the hosts managed just a single shot on target before Jude Bellingham struck an 87th-minute equaliser.

The 21-year-old carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders yet again as he popped up with another late leveller, when his long-range effort was parried into the top corner in the 87th minute.

That briefly looked like rescuing a valuable point in England’s hopes of winning their Nations League group – but with those aspirations now cast into serious doubt, Carsley’s fate may face similar scrutiny after his tactical gamble backfired so spectacularly.

BBC