Finland 1-3 England: Three Lions respond to Greece setback

England put their Greece setback to one side and returned to winning ways in their Nations League campaign after easing past Finland 3-1 in Helsinki on Sunday.

Lee Carsley’s men were stunned by a 2-1 defeat at home to Greece on Thursday but responded well three days later as Jack Grealish fired England into the lead in the first half.

Trent Alexander Arnold’s stunning free-kick 16 minutes from time was followed up by Declan Rice’s close-range effort to make sure of victory, with Arttu Hoskonen netting a late consolation for the hosts.

Angel Gomes’ neat flick released Grealish into the box after 18 minutes, with the Manchester City midfielder netting his fourth international goal, and second under Carsley, by sliding low into the bottom-right corner.

Finland responded well with Fredrik Jensen firing over before Benjamin Kallman tested Dean Henderson, who was making his first England appearance since 2020.

The hosts continued to cause England problems after the break and should have gone level when Kallman’s cross picked out Jensen, only to see his effort blaze over the crossbar.

However, the Three Lions’ individual quality shone through, with Alexander-Arnold sending a fine effort beyond Lukas Hradecky in the 74th minute, with Rice then turning home Ollie Watkins’ cross shortly after.

There would, however, be no clean sheet for Henderson upon his return to the England line-up, with Hoskonen heading home from a corner to take the gloss off an otherwise comfortable display.

goals and points for the #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/R1AG4kDll4

— England (@England) October 13, 2024

Data Debrief: England back on track

England remain unbeaten in 13 meetings with Finland (W11 D2), the most times they have faced an opponent without ever losing.

The Three Lions are also now unbeaten in their last six away games in all competitions (W5 D2), last having a longer such run between March 2013 and October 2015 (12 in a row).

Carsley is the fifth manager to win both of his first two away games in charge of England after Walter Winterbottom (1946), Glenn Hoddle (1996), Sven-Goran Eriksson (2001) and Roy Hodgson (2012).

In Grealish and Rice, this is the first time the same two players have scored in back-to-back England away games (also vs. Republic of Ireland) since Bukayo Saka and Tammy Abraham in October and November 2021 (v Andorra and San Marino).