Tough night for Kenny’s men in Wembley
By Stephen Leonard
IT WAS a tough night for Stephen Kenny and his Republic of Ireland team as they suffered their heaviest defeat under his tenure so far, going down 3-0 to England in Wembley tonight.
Despite some promising signs early on, particularly when Daryl Horgan was in possession, the visitors found themselves two goals adrift by the halftime recess.
Stephen Kenny
Harry Maguire handed England the lead 18 minutes in when he got his head to Harry Winks' return into the box from a half-cleared corner.
The hosts' advantage was doubled just after the half hour mark when some loose marking on Jadon Sancho was punished as the midfielder steered the ball through the legs of Jeff Hendrick and beyond the reach of Darren Randolph.
Bukayo Saka could have added to that early in the second period when he ran on to a tidy back roll by Tyrone Mings, but could find only the side-netting.
Still it was not long before England made it 3-0 after Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired home a penalty awarded after Saka had been clipped by Cyrus Christie.
Ireland, who had not been helped by the loss of several key players in the lead up to tonight’s game as well as the loss of defender John Egan to injury early on in the tie, did press more as the second half wore on.
Alan Browne forced a stop from goalkeeper Dean Henderson and Shane Duffy headed over a delivery from substitute James McClean, but Kenny’s men were unable to get off the mark.
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