England’s fans were left in a state of shock after stand-in manager Lee Carsley received a sobering reality check, even though Pavlidis’ winner in the fourth minute of extra time sparked wild celebrations among Greek fans.
Carsley’s potential as a full-time replacement had been raised by two victories since Gareth Southgate left, but after this poor performance, his hopes may have diminished.
After Pavlidis’s precise goal early in the second half gave Greece the lead, Greece was unable to score against England, who started with an experimental-looking attacking formation but failed badly.
Jude Bellingham hoped to have protected his side when he lashed home a 87th-minute adjuster with Britain’s subsequent shot on track, however there was one more bend as the remarkable Pavlidis rebuffed some sad safeguarding to shoot past Jordan Pickford from short proximity.
Greece leads the table with a maximum of nine points, while England is in second place with six points after their first defeat under Carsley.
Even though Carsley acknowledged that the five-man attack failed, he maintained his decision to start without a recognized striker in the absence of injured captain Harry Kane.
He stated to reporters, “I think with the players we have, we must be courageous with our systems and creative.” It was my thought and I assume the fault for that. We shouldn’t rule out trying something else, even though it absolutely did not come off.
A minute of silence was held before the game for Greece’s former international George Baldock, who passed away this week at the age of 31. It was a moving evening for Greece.
There was a buzz of anticipation around Wembley when Carsley selected in-form Cole Palmer to lead England’s football for the Nations League games after Southgate’s often conservative style. The Chelsea players finished just behind Phil Foden and Bellingham.
Bellingham stung Greek keeper Vlachodimos Odysseas’ fingers with a brutal plunging drive and Palmer blasted inefficiently over the crossbar when very much positioned.
Yet, for all Britain’s going after potential, it was Greece who had the better first-half open doors.
Before home keeper Pickford almost gave Greece the lead, he lost the ball on the edge of his area and was saved from his embarrassment by Levi Colwill’s brilliant goal line clearance. Pavlidis then missed with a shot.
Greece took the lead in the 49th minute when Pavlidis showed great footwork to shoot a low shot past Pickford despite being surrounded by England defenders. England started the second half with a lackluster attitude, and Greece won.
Giorgos Masouras and Pavlidis then, at that point, had objectives precluded by VAR and numerous Britain fans had previously set out toward home when Bellingham’s shot beat Odyyseas Vlachodimos.
Despite this, Greece persevered and Pavlidis secured victory against England at the tenth attempt.
In the mean time, Italy and Belgium played out a 2-2 attract the Association A: Match in Group 2.
Before suffering two blows in the final ten minutes of the first half, Italy appeared at ease and was leading the game.
After a VAR review, Lorenzo Pellegrini’s late lunge on Arthur Theate in the 38th minute was initially given a yellow card. However, the Italy playmaker was instead given a straight red card.
Maxim De Cuyper scored emphatically from 25 yards after a clever set-piece move to cut Belgium’s deficit in half from the subsequent free kick.
Within 61 minutes, Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard completed the Belgian comeback.
Trossard ghosted past the static defense to prod the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range after a deep corner was sent back across goal.
“There are episodes that can change a game, similar to their objective following we went down to ten men,” said Italy mentor Luciano Spalletti.
A result does not always depend on how you play football or what you do. After a very good first half, we could have played better in the second.
After defeating Israel 4-1 in Budapest, France moved up to second place in their group, putting them ahead of Italy.
France took the lead in the seventh minute when Eduardo Camavinga scored after the goalkeeper misjudged his timid effort and let the ball bounce over the line.
Omri Gandelman evened out on 24 minutes, before Christopher Nkunku reestablished France’s benefit four minutes after the fact with a sharp completion.
Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola scored two more goals for the visitors as the clock wound down.
Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway defeated Slovenia 3-0 in Oslo to lead Group B3 by three points, three more than Austria, which defeated Kazakhstan 4-0.
In Helsinki, Republic of Ireland overcame a deficit to defeat Finland 2-1 and move up to third place in Group B2 behind England.
