England cruise past hosts Greece 3-0 to go top of Nations League group

(Reuters) - England eased past hosts Greece 3-0 in their Nations League match on Thursday to go top of their Group B2 and head into their last matchday against Ireland playing for promotion.

Goals from Ollie Watkins, an own goal by the Greeks and a late flick from Curtis Jones on his debut gave England a comfortable victory and put them on 12 points from five matches.

They are ahead of Greece, who beat them 2-1 in London last month, on goal difference.

The visitors flew into Greece without nine players - including Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold - who pulled out of interim boss Lee Carsley's squad due to injuries.

Captain Harry Kane had sharply criticised the withdrawals, saying country must always come before club.

Kane was surprisingly left on the bench until the second half but there was nothing lax about their start with England comfortably controlling possession and getting an early goal from Watkins.

"It represents that we are moving in the right direction. We won't get too carried away, we have a big game on Sunday at Wembley," said England's interim boss Lee Carsley.

"We have a lot of outstanding talent. The players that weren't here, we concentrated on the ones who were. They took their opportunity today.

"People were speaking last night about the inexperience in the squad but these players are playing for their clubs at a really high level."

Watkins tapped in for the lead in the seventh minute after a cutback from Noni Madueke, making his first England start.

Greece, who had their first effort towards goal after 25 minutes, gradually got into the game and had a golden chance to level on the half hour mark but Kostas Tsimikas' shot from inside the box was punched wide by England keeper Jordan Pickford.

BELLINGHAM SHOT BRINGS OWN GOAL

The visitors came close in the 53rd but keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos stopped a shot by Rico Lewis before Jude Bellingham saw his header bounce off the post seconds later.

With Greece pushing for an equaliser that would secure promotion for them, Pickford had to come to the rescue again in the 63rd minute, palming Fotis Ioannidis' curled shot wide before England struck twice late on to finish off the tie and gain the advantage for the last matchday.

Bellingham's shot in the 78th bounced off the post then the back of Vlachodimos for an own goal.

Jones then added a third four minutes later with a cheeky flick.

"In the first 25-30 minutes we allowed them to circulate the ball too much," Greece defender Konstantinos Mavropanos said. "In the second half we took risks that did not pay off.

"The early goal affected us but in those 25 minutes we just gave England too much space and possession."

The Greeks are second after their first loss in the campaign and travel to Finland for their last match. The top team wins promotion while the second-placed finisher goes into a playoff.