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England thrash Ireland to secure Nations League promotion

England were promoted back to League A in the UEFA Nations League after hammering Republic of Ireland 5-0 on Sunday evening.

Harry Kane returned to captain the Three Lions, who gave a debut to Tino Livramento, as Mark McGuinness stepped in for his Irish debut.

The English were on the prowl earlier on and looked to take flight when Curtis Jones volleyed wide from the edge of the box after getting onto a loose ball.

A pretty robust type of approach carried out a while later though there were no shortage of energy in possession and eagerness to go on the offensive.

Ireland got a chance to mount a serious move to goal but a laboured intensity on the ball involving Sammie Szmodics conceded momentum back to the host.

The restart lacked no action as Jude Bellingham moved inside from Kane's through pass and succumbed to Liam Scales' challenge to win a penalty, with the latter dismissed in the process.

Kane, who didn't feature at all in the 2-1 win over Greece in Athens, made no mistake and beat Caoimhin Kelleher to put the host on the board.

It was proving to be one-sided as Anthony Gordon reacted timeously to a snap clearance towards the near post and showed the presence of mind to volley in the bottom-corner.

There were more to come for the host two minutes afterwards when Conor Gallagher managed to be at the perfect place and time to dispatch a floated delivery.

England looked to the bench and made a trio of changes in Morgan Rogers, Jarrod Bowen and Dominic Solanke, replacing Gallagher. Gordon and Noni Madueke respectively.

Bowen impacted instantly where he combined a nicely worked assist from Bellingham to leave the defence apart before finishing with his first touch.

The Irish were put out of sight ten minutes to fulltime when Bellingham again stepped ahead to play in Taylor Harwood-Bellis this time to open his account for the nation.

With the win, the Three Lions were promoted back to League A of the tournament and ended the year on a high too.

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