Finland 1-3 England: Player ratings as Three Lions leave it late in Helsinki

England overcame Finland 3-1 in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday to boost their promotion hopes. Jack Grealish fired them in front after only 18 minutes into the kick-off, following which the Finnish side beefed up their backline and kept the Three Lions at arm’s length for almost an hour. But then, Trent Alexander-Arnold doubled their advantage in the 74th minute before Declan Rice made it 3-0 with only six minutes of normal time remaining. Arttu Hoskonen pulled one back for the hosts late on in a consolation effort, but it was too little too late. Here are the player ratings:

Finland National Football Team Player Ratings vs England

Goalkeeper

Lukas Hradecky – 6

Made three saves but also conceded thrice in the game.

Defenders

Nikolai Alho – 6.5

With five clearances, he demonstrated his excellent vision but struggled to win his duels.

Arttu Hoskonen – 7

Wasn’t fully effective in defense but salvaged himself with a late consolation goal for Finland.

Robert Ivanov – 7

Made four clearances, two interceptions and two tackles, while also completing over 90% of his passes – a good shift overall.

Matti Peltola – 6.5

Competed hard for the ball, and looked to get his side forward with a series of accurate long balls.

Jere Uronen – 5

Drifted in and out of the game, while also lacking the pace to match England’s wide players.

Midfielders

Fredrik Jensen – 5.5

Sloppy in possession and came a cropper in his duels too.

Glen Kamara – 6.5

Ferocious and feisty while competing for possession; his distribution skills were top notch too.

Rasmus Schuller – 6

Laid two key passes for his teammates and even helped out defensively whenever needed.

Topi Keskinen – 7

Laid a series of crosses but struggled to win back possession despite going into a number of duels.

Forwards

Benjamin Kallman – 7.5

Tested the England defense a few times while also creating goalscoring chances for his teammates.

Substitutes

Leo Walta – 7

Assisted Hoskonen for their late goal.

Joel Pohjanpalo – 5

Struggled to get involved in the thick of the things

Robin Lod – 5

Didn’t see much of the ball.

Teemu Pukki – 5

Was sent in to fire up Finland and possibly bag a goal but they underwhelmed big time.

Oliver Antman – N/A

Didn’t have much time to make any real impact.

Manager

Markku Kanerva – 6

The Finland manager waited too long to send in Teemu Pukki, while his back-five set-up backfired spectacularly.

England National Football Team Player Ratings vs Finland

Goalkeeper

Dean Henderson – 7

The Three Lions custodian had an easy game in goal with Finland rarely threatening.

Defenders

Kyle Walker – 6.5

Not much active despite his capabilities and experience.

John Stones – 6.5

Distributed the ball around well and held his position firmly to never let any Finnish forward get a sniff of the goal.

Marc Guehi – 6.5

Excellent passing range, never hesitated to compete for the ball, and even attempted a shot, albeit it flew wide.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8

A thorn in Finland’s flesh all night before doubling England’s advantage with a late goal.

Midfielders

Angel Gomes – 7.5

Set up Grealish for their opening goal and completed nearly 100 passes in the game.

Declan Rice – 7

Worked in tandem with Gomes, helping England remain in control of the match before consolidating their victory with a third.

Forwards

Cole Palmer – 7

No goals for the in-form Chelsea forward but remained a key player in the attack for England.

Jude Bellingham – 7.5

Hounded the Finnish players for possession, and came away victorious most of the time, but lacked the shooting accuracy tonight, with none of his four shots on target.

Jack Grealish – 8

Fired the Three Lions in front with a clinical strike and created a few chances for his teammates too.

Harry Kane – 6

Scorer of a brace in the reverse fixture, Finland appeared to have learned their lesson and kept him firmly under wraps this time around.

Substitutes

Noni Madueke – 5.5

Struggled to get involved.

Ollie Watkins – 7.5

Bagged the assist for Rice and laid two key passes too.

Rico Lewis – 6.5

Showed his excellent passing skills.

Phil Foden – 5.5

Ineffective for the 10 minutes that he was on the field for.

Conor Gallagher – 6

Created one decent chance in the closing stages.

Manager

Lee Carsley – 7

England’s bright run of form under him continued with yet another convincing victory.