Ireland 0 – 2 England
Seamus Coleman didn’t make it past the hour mark for the Republic of Ireland but Lee Carsley recorded a solid win in his first match as England’s interim manager against a backdrop of media furore over his refusal to sing the national anthem.
Coleman hobbled off after 57 minutes following a heavy tackle by Harry Maguire to be replaced by his Everton team-mate, Jake O’Brien, and immediately becomes a fitness concern for the Blues’ next Premier League game against Aston Villa in a week’s time.
Meanwhile, Carsley, who has made his name as coach of the England U21s without any fuss, was was taking charge of his first senior international fixture having been targeted in the build-up by certain right-leaning newspapers and their mock outrage over his decision not to sing God Save The King before kick-off.
The former Everton midfielder, who was born in Birmingham but played as a full international for Ireland to reflect his heritage, has simply said singing the national anthem “is not my style” and that he found it an unnecessary distraction when preparing for games to start.
“This [singing the anthem] is something that I always struggled with when I was playing for Ireland.
“The gap between your warm-up, you’re coming on to the pitch and the delay with the anthems. So it’s something that I have never done. I was always really focused on the game and my first actions of the game. I really found that in that period I was wary about my mind wandering off.
“I was really focused on the football and I have taken that into coaching.
“We had the national anthem with the Under 21s also and I am in a zone at that point. I am thinking about how the opposition are going to set up and our first actions within the game.
“I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries.”
Previously, the focus had been on former Irish players, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, who switched their national allegiance to England before they found international success but there are calls for Carsley to be sacked before his audition to succeed Gareth Southgate has even begun.
England, with Jordan Pickford playing the full 90 minutes, eventually ran out comfortable winners in the Nations League Group B game thanks to goals scored, somewhat ironically, by Rice and Grealish with Carsley’s side playing attractive attacking football to cement their obvious superiority well before half-time.
Everton’s concern, of course, will be around Coleman and whether he was withdrawn simply as a precaution having received treatment on his ankle on the pitch by Ireland’s medical staff.