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Declan Rice and Jack Grealish returned to haunt the Republic of Ireland as Lee Carsley’s first match as interim England manager ended in a comfortable 2-0 Nations League victory in Dublin.
Saturday’s sold-out Aviva Stadium clash marked the start of new eras for both teams as Heimir Hallgrimsson led the hosts against a nation beginning life after Gareth Southgate.
England impressed in their first match since losing July’s Euro 2024 final, with Rice and Grealish setting Carsley on course for an impressive win over the nation he played for 40 times as a player.
Rice won three senior caps for the Republic and fired England into an early lead, which former Ireland Under-21 international Grealish added to during a one-sided first half.
Germany turned on the style as they opened their Nations League campaign with an emphatic 5-0 win over Hungary in Dusseldorf.
Niclas Fullkrug opened the scoring before the break in the Group A3 encounter, with Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Kai Havertz all getting on the scoresheet as Hungary wilted in the second half.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side dominated from the outset with Musiala, whose fine solo breakaway goal gave the hosts a firm grip on the game, devastating throughout.
Five goals from as many men lifted the Netherlands to a 5-2 triumph over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the evening’s other A3 clash.
Manchester United summer signing Joshua Zirkzee scored in the 13th minute at Eindhoven’s Philips Stadion but saw his opener cancelled out by Ermedin Demirovic 14 minutes later.
Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts’ lead in the second minute of first-half added time before Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo netted 11 minutes after the restart.
Edin Dzeko clawed one back in the 73rd minute, but the Netherlands had more to come as Wout Weghorst made it four for the hosts in the 88th minute and Xavi Simons added his name to the scoresheet in the second minute of stoppage time.
A Fotis Ioannidis brace and Benjamin Kallman’s own goal secured England’s group B2 rivals Greece a 3-0 victory over Finland.
Georgia came out on top of their B1 opener with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Czechia, while Albania beat Ukraine 2-1 in the group’s other encounter.
A penalty apiece for the Faroe Islands and North Macedonia saw the sides split the points in their 1-1 group C4 draw.
Group-mates Armenia opened their campaign with a 4-1 victory over Latvia, with an own goal conceded by both sides.
Moldova beat Malta 2-0 to kick off their League D group two campaign.
