Jack Grealish, who has just become a father for the first time, celebrates putting England ahead against Finland in HelsinkiGetty Images

Jack Grealish, who has just become a father for the first time, celebrates putting England ahead against Finland in Helsinki

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer in Helsinkii

England recovered from the embarrassing Uefa Nations League loss to Greece at Wembley but were still not totally convincing as they finally overcame Finland in Helsinki.

Interim manager Lee Carsley made six changes from the debacle against Greece, with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford replaced by Dean Henderson, but England failed to sparkle until the side ranked 64th in the world and without a point ran out of steam late on.

The recalled Jack Grealish settled early England nerves with a cool finish from Angel Gomes’ excellent pass in the 18th minute, and Finland missed chances to put Carsley and his side under further pressure before Trent Alexander-Arnold's brilliant late free-kick settled the game.

Declan Rice scored from close range with six minutes left to give the scoreline a more satisfactory appearance for Carsley and England.

Finland striker Fredrik Jensen was their biggest culprit as they tried to inflict more misery on England, missing good first-half opportunities before somehow turning an effort over the top from only six yards after the break.

Alexander-Arnold, operating at left-back in another Carsley break from convention, provided a rare moment of quality in a game desperately lacking the commodity, curling a magnificent 25-yard free-kick high past Finland keeper Lukas Hradecky after 74 minutes.

Finland, by then, were out on their feet and Rice stole in for an easy finish three minutes from time.

The Finns at least delighted the packed 32,000 crowd and got the reward their gallant efforts deserved when Arttu Hoskonen scored as England failed to deal with a corner.

Scrappy England finally get job done

England and interim manager Carsley will simply be glad for a win after the humiliation against Greece at Wembley, but they struggled to impress for long periods against the weakest side in their Uefa Nations League group.

Anything other than victory was unthinkable against a courageous Finland and England will be grateful that Jensen somehow failed to find the target from only six yards with the goal at his mercy with the score only 1-0.

Carsley demonstrated once again that he is not afraid to make the big calls by leaving out keeper Pickford, although he insisted it was always his intention to give Crystal Palace's Henderson his first start. He had little serious work but was at times uncertain with the ball at his feet, leaving long goal-kicks to team-mates.

Alexander-Arnold was used in another experiment at left-back, where he was rarely troubled but demonstrated exactly what he brings to England with that magnificent free-kick.

England at least had the shape and structure missing at Wembley, with Grealish once again confirming his rejuvenation this season with his second goal of the campaign, Carsley wisely ditching the wild experimentation he implemented to such ill-effect against Greece.

This night was all about the win, which England duly secured, but it was not the sort of performance to brush away all of the questions surrounding Carsley and his future.

Tough night for Palmer

Chelsea's Cole Palmer was used in a more familiar right-flank role in Finland after looking lost as a deep-lying midfielder against Greece.

Disappointingly for a player who has sprinkled stardust on the Premier League this season, Palmer was literally left on the margins of the action and unable to make an impact.

Palmer has already shown his quality at full England level, especially with his goal in the Euro 2024 final against Spain in Berlin, and his time will surely come.

On this occasion, however, he struggled and played without his usual ambition and confidence. It was no surprise when he was replaced by Chelsea team-mate Noni Madueke after 68 minutes.

England captain Harry Kane was back as Carsley's attacking spearhead but he looked well short of sharpness after missing the Greece game through injury and was laboured until he suffered the same fate at the same time as Palmer.

They will both be hoping to improve when England reconvene for what is scheduled to be the final camp with Carsley as interim manager in November.

Player of the match

J. Grealish
7.79
5 A. Hoskonen
5.32
10 T. Pukki
5.28
21 T. Keskinen
5.24
19 B. Källman
5.19
1 L. Hrádecký
5.16
17 N. Alho
5.06
6 G. Kamara
5.06
3 M. Peltola
5.05
7 O. Antman
5.01
9 F. Jensen
5.00
18 J. Uronen
4.96
22 L. Walta
4.93
4 R. Ivanov
4.92
11 R. Schüller
4.89
20 J. Pohjanpalo
4.86
8 R. Lod
4.82
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