Evangelos Pavlidis scored twice to give Greece an emotional win at Wembley tonight as Lee Carsley suffered his first defeat as interim England boss.
Jude Bellingham looked to have handed England a scarcely deserved point by cancelling out Pavlidis’ opener with four minutes to go but the visitors secured a win that acted as a fitting tribute to George Baldock when Pavlidis scored again deep into stoppage time.
Former Sheffield United full-back Baldock, who won 12 caps for Greece after making his debut two years ago, was found dead in his swimming pool in Athens yesterday.
Greece requested the game be postponed but, having been told by UEFA it must go ahead, their players said they would “try to reach the strength of his [Baldock’s] soul” by putting on a show against the Three Lions. And they did exactly that with a performance full of passion and commitment.
They were undoubtedly aided by a display that can only be described as shambolic from England. Carsley’s experimental formation, which saw Bellingham operate initially as a false nine ahead of a plethora of attacking midfielders, failed to gel while the Three Lions were disorganised at the back and lacking defensive nous in midfield.
🇬🇷🇬🇷 GREECE HAVE DONE IT! 🇬🇷🇬🇷
… And you can’t say they don’t deserve it! #ITVFootball | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/pGgwrpmocQ
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 10, 2024
The early signs were promising, however, with Bellingham’s powerful 20-yard shot drawing a fine save from Odisseas Vlachodimos in the Greece goal after two minutes.
Five minutes later, Cole Palmer curled a free-kick inches over the bar.
But England then began to lose their way, with a lack of cover causing panic in defensive areas. Jordan Pickford had to come out of his area to deal with a through ball but then dallied far too long, enabling Anastasios Bakasetas to pinch it and fire towards the empty net. It would have resulted in a goal had it not been…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/football/internationals/england-1-2-greece-shambolic-england-beaten-as-visitors-win-it-for-baldock/
Author : Jon Fisher
Publish date : 2024-10-10 20:50:30
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