England 3-0 Republic of Ireland: Jude Bellingham makes debut at 17

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Jadon SanchoImage source, Getty Images
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Jadon Sancho's low shot was the pick of the goals

England strolled to victory against the Republic of Ireland in their friendly international at Wembley.

Manager Gareth Southgate gave his undercard a chance as he kept England's main players back for the Uefa Nations League match in Belgium on Sunday - but they still had far too much for an outclassed Republic side.

Jude Bellingham, brought on as a substitute for his debut in the second half, became England's third-youngest full international at 17 years and 137 days.

And Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson also won his first senior cap as a half-time replacement for Burnley's Nick Pope.

Harry Maguire, given the captain's armband, erased some of the misery of his last England appearance - when he was sent off in the Nations League home defeat by Denmark - by heading in Harry Winks' cross after 18 minutes.

Jadon Sancho doubled England's advantage before the break and their total control was emphasised when Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored emphatically from the penalty spot in the 56th minute after Bukayo Saka was fouled by Cyrus Christie. It sealed England's first win against the Republic since 1985.

Grealish runs the show

All judgement of England must be placed in the context of a mediocre Republic of Ireland performance, but this was still a very impressive night for Aston Villa's Jack Grealish.

The 25-year-old, who actually played for the Republic's Under-21 side before switching allegiance to England, has been the subject of much debate, with many wondering why Southgate has not used his mercurial talents more regularly.

Here, given a roving role, Grealish was in confident mood as he relished possession and was one of England's main creative forces before being substituted and getting a warm embrace from his manager after a fine display.

It remains to be seen whether Grealish has done enough to figure more prominently in Southgate's thoughts for the key clash in Belgium but there is no doubt he made another big impression, albeit in a game that occasionally resembled a practice session.

Better night for Maguire

Maguire cut a disconsolate figure on his last Wembley appearance for England, capping a 31-minute horror show against Denmark with a second yellow card.

That night, he looked for all the world like someone who needed to be taken out of the team - after the on-field setback of being in the Manchester United defence that had conceded six goals at home to Tottenham and the off-field trauma of his well-publicised court case in Greece.

Here Southgate demonstrated his huge faith in Maguire by making him captain - and the centre-back had such a comfortable night that he was able to set aside any minor defensive duties to score one goal and have opportunities for more.

"I had a tough summer - everyone knows what went off," Maguire told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"At the start of the season, maybe my focus was not there. In the first international camp, I got myself sent off [against Denmark] and I felt I let the boys down more than anything. Not myself - the boys.

"We lost the game and it was disappointing. Gareth has shown great faith in me to give me the captain's armband. I feel I am good form again and hopefully now I can kick on."

England's second string saw plenty of good things from the other goalscorers Calvert-Lewin and Sancho, while Henderson made one smart save in his 45-minute debut performance,

It was hard to make any serious judgements in such a low-key friendly but Southgate will be pleased England were able to show such domination for almost the entire game.

'We were set up to play football'

England manager Gareth Southgate told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We were really pleased. We had a good bedrock with the back three who were our most experienced players in the team.

"We were not as strong physically in midfield as we might normally be but we played with intelligence.

"Jack Grealish was very good. He's in really good form and he's playing in the areas we want him to play, not coming too deep, and he's affecting the game in the final third.

"We wanted to give Jude Bellingham 20 minutes or so to give him a feel of it. He was nervous at the start, it's a huge occasion to come with the team at his age and be as mature as he has been with us.

"You saw as it developed he settled and got into the game. That's the experience we wanted to give him."

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Republic goal drought goes on - the stats

  • England earned their first win over the Republic of Ireland since March 1985, ending a run of seven matches without victory against them.

  • The Republic are without a goal in their past five matches in all competitions, their longest run without scoring since another run of five between November 1995 and May 1996.

  • Harry Maguire became the 33rd different Manchester United player to score for the England men's team - no club has provided more different goalscorers for the Three Lions (Tottenham, though, have also provided 33).

  • Jack Grealish has provided assists in back-to-back games for England - he's had a hand in 12 goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for club and country this season (five goals, seven assists).

  • Jadon Sancho became the first player to score for England at Wembley while playing for a non-English club side since Steve McManaman against Luxembourg in September 1999.

  • Each of England's past four converted penalties have been scored by different players (Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Dominic Calvert-Lewin), the longest such streak of different penalty scorers since a run involving Terry McDermott, Kevin Keegan, Phil Neal, Bryan Robson and Gary Lineker between 1980 and 1990 (excluding shootouts).

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