England 1-2 Greece: Player ratings as Lee Carsley's Three Lions taste historic defeat

England were beaten by Greece for the first time ever in Thursday night’s UEFA Nations League clash, losing in stoppage time after Jude Bellingham looked like he had salvaged a draw.

Greece had never scored on three previous visits to the (old) Wembley Stadium in 1971, 1983 and 1994, but broke that run early in the second half through Vangelis Pavlidis.

Bellingham pulled England level with 87 minutes gone, but Pavlidis, who was England’s chief tormentor all evening, had the final say for the visitors as Lee Carsley tasted his first defeat since taking over as interim manager, and England lost a first competitive game at Wembley in four years.

How the game unfolded

It was a bright start from England, with Bellingham stinging the palms of Newcastle United goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos from the edge of the box and Cole Palmer, starting his first competitive international, rippling the top of the net with a free-kick. But Greece threatened too, mounting a dangerous counter that striker Pavlidis couldn’t quite finish off.

An almighty gaffe from Jordan Pickford, channelling his inner Rene Higuita by attempting to dribble into midfield after rushing out of his goal, almost gifted Greece a lead. But Anastasios Bakasetas’ opportunistic strike at the open net was heroically hooked off the line by Levi Colwill. The England goalkeeper didn’t instil confidence moments later when he attempted to claim a high ball but was beaten to it by Kostas Mavropanos of West Ham United. The resultant goal was ruled out for offside.

For England’s dominance, Greece went close again midway through the first half when John Stones diverted a shot from Bakasetas to safety just in front of Pickford. Immediately at the other end, Palmer blazed a glorious chance over the bar after Bellingham’s cutback. Anthony Gordon then ought to have done better with a header, having ghosted into the box.

But the quality and intensity waned as the interval neared, with Greece increasingly defending the penalty area and England struggling to find a way through.

England were caught cold when the game resumed, not doing anything like enough to stop Pavlidis dance his way through a crowded penalty area and fire a shot low past Pickford. He dedicated the goal to George Baldock, the England-born Greek international who passed away this week.

With their tails up and playing for their late teammate – both sets of player wore black armbands in tribute – Pickford had to deal with a Bakasetas shot in a somewhat unorthodox way. England were extremely fortunate not to fall two goals behind when Giorgos Masouras applied a clinical finish to a ball across the box from Pavlidis, who was offside in the build-up and eventually flagged accordingly.

Although there was impressive energy from substitute Noni Madueke, England looked laboured and without a plan as the game wore on. Greece continued to create, however, and had the ball in the net a fourth time on the night as Pavlidis turned in from Christos Tzolis’ pass. England had cheaply lost possession from Pickford’s throw out but were saved, not by a flag, but by VAR ruling it offside.

Bellingham looked like he’d saved England late on, passing the ball into the net after Dominic Solanke’s low ball evaded everyone in the middle, allowing the Real Madrid man to run onto at the edge of the box. Vlachodimos got a hand on the strike but it was too powerful.

Parity lasted only a few minutes until stoppage time when Pavlidis was able to turn the ball into the net in a crowded box. It was ultimately poor defending from England, failing to clear their lines, but Greece by now rippling the net a fifth time, deserved the victory.

England player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Jordan Pickford - 4/10 - Didn't start well at all, almost gifting Greece a pair of goals, but bailed out once by a teammate and then by an offside flag. A misplaced throw later saw the visitors score a would-be second that was rule out by VAR for offside.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6/10 - Culpable defensively for the Greece breakthrough. Got forward plenty but there were a lack of options for him without an attacking focal point for the first hour.

CB: John Stones (c) - 4/10 - Handed the captain's armband for the first time. Too weak in his attempted challenge on Pavlidis as Greece took the lead. Not the leader he should have been.

CB: Levi Colwill - 6/10 - Cleared the ball just in the nick of time after Pickford went walkabout early.

LB: Rico Lewis - 5/10 - Wasn't afraid to look for the ball and come into midfield. Poor for the second Greece goal that won the game.

RM: Bukayo Saka - 5/10 - Struggled to get into the game and succumbed to injury only a few minutes into the second half.

CM: Cole Palmer - 6/10 - Fans expected the net to bulge when Bellingham laid a first half chance on a plate for him. Wound up moving to the right flank when the tactics were switched up and faded.

CM: Declan Rice - 5/10 - Passed the ball accurately, but mostly backwards and sideways. Didn't seem to have control of the midfield and lost more duels than he won.

LM: Anthony Gordon - 4/10 - Missed a header from a promising position, but overall saw less of the ball than Saka on the opposite flank. Didn't play to his strengths, which is running at defenders.

ST: Phil Foden - 4/10 - Couldn't really find his role in the system England started with. There were sporadic moments of link up with Bellingham but Greece closed the spaces pretty easily.

ST: Jude Bellingham - 6/10 - Nearly proved England's saviour once more with the late equaliser to make it 1-1. It hadn't been a brilliant performance up to then and he even looked quite disinterested in the move from which he scored until the ball was suddenly rolling towards him.

Substitutes

SUB: Noni Madueke (52' for Saka) - 7/10 - Took the game to Greece more than any England player.

SUB: Ollie Watkins (60' for Gordon) - 6/10 - Would have hoped this was his night without Kane. Had to settle for half an hour off the bench.

SUB: Dominic Solanke (72' for Foden) - 6/10 - Credited with an assist but, in truth, it wasn't Bellingham he was looking for with the pass.

Subs not used: Dean Henderson (GK), Nick Pope (GK), Kyle Walker, Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi, Curtis Jones, Conor Gallagher, Angel Gomes.

Manager

Lee Carsley - 5/10 - Unable to call on Harry Kane and lined up without a recgonised striker, even with Ollie Watkins available. That didn't really work and he was prepared to change things relatively early in the second half. Only three offside goals ensured it wasn't embarrassing though.

Player of the match - Vangelis Pavlidis (Greece)

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