1 week ago
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England’s puzzling, Jekyll-and-Hyde form continued as Sarina Wiegman’s side were beaten in Belgium despite a world-class debut goal from the Lionesses striker Michelle Agyemang.
Brought on as a substitute for the final 10 minutes with England trailing 3-1, the 19-year-old’s first two touches of senior international football saw her control the ball with her thigh and volley home an outstanding, instinctive finish that gave the visitors hope of a late comeback, but they were unable to add to that magical moment and were left to rue their poor first-half performance.
Having seemed to be back to their entertaining best when emphatically beating Belgium on home soil on Friday, an injury-hit England side produced a wholly contrasting performance – as did their opponents – to see the team ranked 20th in the world open up a shock 3-0 lead, and a strong second-half comeback from England proved too little, too late, as Belgium celebrated joyously at full-time.
Ultimately, the result saw England drop to second in their Women’s Nations League group with a total of seven points from four games, behind a Spain side who moved top courtesy of their ominously-good 7-1 victory over Portugal. More pertinently, with just under three months to go before the start of this summer’s European Championship in Switzerland, the first 45 minutes of this game in Leuven was another reminder that England must improve significantly and become more consistent if they are to retain their title.
The first goal, scored inside four minutes, was an alarmingly simple one, from an England point of view. A routine ball over the top of the Chelsea left-back Niamh Charles was latched onto by the fit-again Belgium captain Tessa Wullaert and she proved too quick for the England backline, having plenty of time to pick her spot and place the ball low into the far corner past Hannah Hampton. It was the hosts’ first attack and the European champions proved powerless to stop their break upfield.
For England’s coaching staff, the second Belgium goal will also have been worryingly easy, as it merely saw the tallest player on the pitch head in from a set-piece. The Everton midfielder Justine Vanhaevermaet beat Leah Williamson in the air and looped her header into the corner from the Inter striker Wullaert’s well-placed delivery from the free-kick.
When the third Belgium goal went in before the half-hour mark, England were in truly uncharted territory in the Wiegman era and facing something of a humiliation. This time it was a well-worked Belgium move that dragged the England back four across to the right and Wullaert beat Millie Bright to meet the low cross that was played in from the left by Davina Philtjens. The travelling England fans behind that goal could scarcely believe their eyes.
Defensively, from the Lionesses, it was all too reminiscent of their most recent previous visit to this stadium in October 2023, albeit with different personnel. On that night they were similarly beaten 3-2 after being unable to contend with the pace of Wullaert on the counter attack. There were a host of injuries for the World Cup finalists to contend with on that night and it was a similar situation again on Tuesday, albeit it was in attacking areas where the Lionesses were most severely depleted. Since Friday’s resounding win at Ashton Gate, the Arsenal striker Alessia Russo and the Chelsea forward Lauren James – who both looked in excellent form in Bristol – had to return to their clubs for treatment, with Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp also among the injured forwards.
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At half-time, after Beth Mead had pulled a goal back from the visitors with a crisply-converted penalty, Bright and Charles were both replaced, with Wiegman introducing Esme Morgan and Jess Carter in an apparent attempt to counteract the pace of Wullaert. England started to control the possession early in the second half and a long-range Williamson strike forced Lisa Lichtfus into a good save, tipping the effort over the crossbar, but it was not until the arrival of Ella Toone and Fran Kirby after an hour when England really began to apply heavier pressure.
A deep Mead free-rick was met at the far post by Lucy Bronze but the Chelsea right-back headed wide, with one of the visitors’ best chances, before the Brighton & Hove Albion youngster Agyemang – who is on loan with the Sussex club from Arsenal – introduced herself in style, and perhaps Wiegman will wish she had brought her on sooner.
The game finished in an ill-tempered manner amid a flurry of yellow cards where both teams were perhaps slightly fortunate that nobody was sent off. For England, the defensive inquest will need to be thorough.
