Harry Kane turns tight game for England in timely reminder for incoming Thomas Tuchel | OneFootball

The Three Lions look less functional with the captain, but he is capable of game-changing moments of magic

At half-time in the Wembley press box, you could practically sense the knives being sharpened for Harry Kane.

Kane was far from the only England player struggling to get into a dismal game but Carsley’s brave decision to drop him in Athens ensured that England’s record goalscorer would be the focus in the interim head coach’s final game in charge, which his side needed to win to guarantee promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.

Harry Kane scored his 69th England goal

REUTERS

Kane’s frustration was underlined when he lashed out at Jayson Molumby in first-half stoppage time, earning a booking, and the way the game was going, it felt like a matter of time before Carsley called on Watkins or Dominic Solanke from the bench.

So England’s eventual 5-0 romp will have to go down as another occasion when Kane silenced the sceptics.

With minutes of the restart, the Bayern Munich forward unlocked not just the visitors’ defence but the entire game with an outstanding, eye-of-the-needle pass for Jude Bellingham, which effectively turned the evening from a slog to a stroll for Carsley’s young side in the blink of an eye.

Picking up the ball on the left touchline, Kane got his head up and dissected three Irish defenders with a 40-yard daisy-cutter. It was the kind of outstanding switch of play which makes him as effective as a creator as a finisher, and after the game Kane agreed that the pass was “one of the best” of his career

Bellingham’s first touch was heavy but he was able to turn inside Scales, who caught his ankles for a penalty. Scales was shown a second yellow card, Kane coolly dispatched the spot-kick – goal number 69 for England – and that was that.

Within six minutes, England were 3-0 up, Antony Gordon and Conor Gallagher scoring their first international goals to take the game beyond Ireland.

The England skipper was booked in the first half

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Substitutes Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis also opened their England accounts on another positive occasion for Carsley’s new generation, which will help to further restore the coach’s reputation following the disaster here against Greece last month.

It was Kane, though, who turned a tight game when England needed someone to step up, and there was no telling how the occasion might have otherwise unfolded.

Kane’s position in the England side will remain one of the biggest questions for new permanent head coach Thomas Tuchel when he takes over in January and, in some respects, this game was a useful demonstration of what he can offer England going forward.

The 31-year-old cannot press tirelessly from the front like Watkins or Solanke, and nor does he offer explosive pace in the channels.

He can, however, provide the kind of individual moments of quality to transform tight games at this level, as well as his astonishing goal-scoring record, of course.

That ability to turn matches should not be sniffed at, even if England may have started to feel like a less functional and modern team with Kane leading the line.

The result ensured that Greece’s comfortable win in Finland was irrelevant, and Carsley will hand over to Tuchel with England back at the highest level of the Nations League, leaving the German to focus on the start of World Cup qualifying when he takes his first camp in March.

Kane will surely have a leading part to play, although it remains to be seen if he will be quite as central to Tuchel as he was to Gareth Southgate.