Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice as Greece defeated England 2-1 at Wembley in the Nations League to end Lee Carsley’s run of wins as interim manager, Afrosport reports.
After taking over from Gareth Southgate who led the three Lions to the Euro 2024 final, Carsley led the team to consecutive 2-0 wins against Ireland and Finland in the Nations League, the run was however halted on Thursday night by Pavlidis, who dedicated his goals and the victory to former teammate George Baldock who passed away at 31.
Pavlidis slotted Greece ahead five minutes into the second half after dazzling past a number of England players.
The visitors were the better side for the better part of the game and pushed for more goals.
England needed an acrobatic goal-line clearance from Levi Colwill to deny Tasos Bakasetas who could have increased the tally.
Greece had three more goals denied by narrow offside calls, a reflection of the England porous defence on the night.
Real Madrid forward Jude Bellingham thought he had earned a point in the 87th minute, but the star man of the night Pavlidis won all the points for the visitors in the 94th minute following a scramble in the England defense.
Victory takes Greece to nine points on top of the log, three clear of England who maintain their second position despite the loss at home.
Goals everywhere ⚽😄
Performance of the night? 👀#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/QhaHejTLVa
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) October 10, 2024
At the Stadio Olimpico, Belgium came from two goals down to force Italy to an entertaining 2-2 draw, while goals from Eduardo Camavinga, Christopher Nkunku, Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola propelled France to a 4-1 win against Israel.
In other games played, Austria thrashed Kazakhstan 4-0, Norway defeated Slovenia 3-0, Faroe Islands and Armenia battled to a 2-2 draw while Ireland beat Finland 2-1, and North Macedonia defeated Latvia 3-0.
