New Delhi: UEFA Nations League action continued on Sunday night as Matchday four of the tournament got off to a blistering start. The previous matchday provided us with a lot of action and a lot of thrills which continued on matchday four, making it an exciting treat for the fans. The first round of fixtures saw Lee Carsley’s England in action, as they looked to recover from their loss against Greece.
Greece were able to record their first ever win over England when the two sides faced each other at Wembley on the previous matchday. Question marks over interim boss Lee Carsley’s future arose following England’s loss and the manager demanded a response from his players. He should be happy with how his players responded when they faced Finland at their home ground.
Finland 1-3 England
3️⃣ goals and 3️⃣ points for the #ThreeLions 🫶 pic.twitter.com/R1AG4kDll4
— England (@England) October 13, 2024
The Three Lions secured a convincing 3-1 victory over Finland, showcasing the response that Lee Carsley demanded before the game, to bounce back strongly from their recent setback. Manchester City’s Jack Grealish opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a well-placed finish after being set free in the penalty area by Angel Gomes. Despite a lackluster second half, where Cole Palmer missed a chance to extend the lead, England maintained control of the match. Finland’s Fredrik Jensen nearly capitalized on a defensive lapse but squandered the opportunity by sending his shot over the bar, keeping England’s lead intact.
Trent Alexander-Arnold then delivered a moment of brilliance with a stunning free kick, giving England a more comfortable cushion. Declan Rice then added a third goal ten minutes later, finishing off Ollie Watkins’ low cross with precision to put the game beyond any doubt. Although the hosts did manage to grab a late consolation goal through Arttu Hoskonen, who headed in from a Leo Walta set piece, it remained only a consolation. The win now moves them closer to automatic qualification in the UEFA Nations League.
Armenia 0-2 North Macedonia
FIN DU MATCH
La Macédoine s’impose 2-0 en Arménie et s’assure définitivement la première place du groupe, notre équipe relève la tête depuis quelques mois il faut continuer sur cette dynamique !
NAPRED MAKEDONIJA 🇲🇰🇲🇰🇲🇰 pic.twitter.com/gkkHOV7wdt
— Football Macédonien FR 🇲🇰 (@FrMacedonien) October 13, 2024
In the UEFA Nations League C encounter between Armenia and North Macedonia, the visitors were able to record a comfortable win away from home. They headed into the game with a better head to head record, having won five of their previous fixtures against Armenia with the hosts coming out on top only twice. The two sides met during the previous matchday as well when Armenia travelled to North Macedonia. Both games have some similarities as both the games ended 2-0 in favour of North Macedonia and both goals came in the second half of both games.
The game was fairly even for the most of it despite Armenia keeping more of the ball. The stats show the hosts to be the better side as they had almost 60% of the possession, their xG was 1.04 as compared to 0.31 of the visitors and they took a whopping 16 shots, ten more than North Macedonia. However, the 72nd minute strike from Girona striker Bojan Miovski gave the visitors the lead, against the run of play and the game was then put to bed in the 85th minute when midfielder Isnik Alimi unleashed a strike into the top-right corner of the goal. This win almost guarantees promotion to the League B of the tournament for the visitors.
Other Results
Kazakhstan 0-1 Slovenia
Liechtenstein 0-0 Gibraltar
Malta 1-0 Moldova
Matchday four of the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 began with a bang and picked up from where we left matchday three. Dive in to find out what happened during the first set of games of Matchday four. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
