Ollie Watkins responded to the pressure of replacing Harry Kane in clinical fashion by opening the scoring after seven minutes of Greece vs England in the Nations League.
On a night when England needed to win to stay in contention to be promoted automatically, Watkins pounced after Jude Bellingham released Noni Madueke on the right, allowing the Chelsea attacker to enter the penalty area and tee up the Aston Villa hotshot.
“Brilliant move from England – set up by Bellingham,” former England defender Lee Dixon told ITV Football, calling Watkins’ timing and judgement “the sign of a great striker”.
“Madueke is direct and makes a really good run into the space. He doesn’t cross it early. If you look at Watkins’ position, he’s being marked. He just stops.”
That’s why Ollie Watkins is in the team! ⚽️#ITVFootball | #NationsLeague | @AVFCOfficial | @England pic.twitter.com/GtJgbPHpnz
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 14, 2024
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Watkins goal vs Greece
Kane is his country’s all-time top scorer with 68 goals but was surprisingly left on the bench in Athens by interim manager Lee Carsley.
Watkins and his fellow forwards made light initial work of an onerous-looking task against opponents who had not conceded at home for a year.
The 28-year-old has netted five times and produced three assists in 15 games for the Villans this season, although he has gone five club matches without being directly involved in a goal.
Despite only featuring for 51 minutes across both matches, Watkins assisted Bellingham’s goal in their 2-1 home defeat to Greece on October 10 and set up Declan Rice for their third in their 3-1 win in Finland three days later.
Top stop from Jordan Pickford! 🙅♂️#ITVFootball | #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/3n9RTugI1C
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 14, 2024
Greece vs England
That win for Greece was part of a run of five consecutive victories before the return fixture, including two over the Republic of Ireland and one at home to Finland in the Nations League.
Bellingham’s late equaliser had been the only goal Greece had conceded since Ivan Jovanovic became their manager in June, but they hit back to triumph that night with Vangelis Pavlidis’ second goal of the game in the 94th minute.
Carsley will make way for new permanent England manager Thomas Tuchel in January. In the meantime, victory over Jovanovic’s team would put England level on points with Greece ahead of the final round of Nations League fixtures, with the group winners earning automatic promotion to League A.
Should they prevail, England’s fate will come down to their deciding game at home to Ireland on Sunday (5pm GMT), with Greece simultaneously visiting Finland.
