England have beaten Finland in their latest Nations League match, with Manchester City star Jack Grealish on target for the Three Lions.
There was frustration earlier this week when England lost to Greece 2-1 at Wembley.
Lee Carsley had made some questionable decisions with regards to starting XI, and Greece were deserving victors.
But it was more like it from England in Helsinki, with Carsley picking a more balanced side.
Jack Grealish did not play any part against Greece, but ahead of tonight’s game Carsley confirmed Grealish was fit to face Finland, and the manager started him on the left. The Manchester City number 10 justified Carsley’s decision to start him on what was a decent night for the star.
England took the lead on 18 minutes after some good interplay down the left side which culminated in Angel Gomes flicking the ball through to Grealish who had made a great run undetected.
The star then had plenty of time to score, finishing clinically into the far corner.
That was his fourth goal for England on his 39th cap, and his second in his last two games for his country after he scored against the Republic of Ireland last month.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice then scored late on to ensure the three points for England. Finland did grab a late consolation through Arttu Hoskonen.
Fans react to Jack Grealish display as England beat Finland 3-0
Despite a three-goal cushion in the end it was not a totally convincing display from England.
Finally did carry a threat in the game at times, and really let England off the hook early in the second-half at 1-0 when Fredrik Jensen blazed an effort over from close range.
Regarding Grealish, the City ace was fairly tidy on the ball and did not actually waste a single pass in the first-half. But he was a little safe at times.
He took his goal very well though and was easily one of England’s better performers, during a game that will not live too long in the memory. Some fans were left impressed:
On top of his goal, Grealish finished the game with 97% pass accuracy (56/58 completed), and won 4/6 duels (via Sofascore).
Grealish must kick on for Man City
Everyone knows that Grealish had a frustrating season in 2023/24, and then of course he was famously left out of the Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish has been vocal about being left out of the England squad, and hopefully, he will be using that as fuel moving forward. It is certainly good to see him doing well again for the Three Lions after his snub.
We have seen how important he can be for City. His contributions during the Treble-winning season were plentiful, and Pep Guardiola played him in all the big games.
Competition is tough at City with the likes of Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Bernardo Silva options to play out wide, with Oscar Bobb to return from injury at the end of the year.
So Grealish needs to kick on now. With a couple of goals for England recently and a couple of assists for City, fans will hope we can see the Grealish of a couple of years ago make a return.
