England’s super-subs spark a thrilling 3-2 win

LONDON – There’s something about the lionesses at Wembley and the super-subs saving the day. At the end of the first half, England were 2-0 down to the Netherlands and looked as if they had frozen over on a bitterly cold winter’s night. But after the start of the second half, England woke up, and Beth Mead gave them life, and Ella Toone and Alessia Russo came on after the hour mark, and Toone scored a late winner to lead England to a 3-2 victory.

It was like Euro 2022 all over again, except this time the match took place on a bitterly cold night and the England team was looking to restore pride and hope in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium.

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England had a poor first-half performance against the Netherlands, lacking strength in midfield and conceding two goals that could have been prevented by Lineth Bernstein. Both strikes carried question marks, but the 2-0 deficit meant England were about to see their chances of topping their Home Nations League group ended, and with them Team GB’s chances of going to the Olympics (England being the team selected). For Team GB to qualify, and to do so, they need to reach the Nations League final to secure one of the two European places).

But then came the turning tide. Meade came on for Chloe Kelly and helped rebalance the midfield. Georgia Stanway was given license to push forward, and England touched the ball less and upped the tempo, scoring two quick goals in the 58th minute through a Stanway header and then a Lauren Hemp shot on the hour mark.

They kept up the pressure and Toon forced a 91st-minute winner from a Lauren James cross. England pressed once again in search of another goal, one that could have been absolutely key to their hopes of topping the group. But they couldn’t manage it.

He plays

Wegman: Meade has shown she is ready to play for England

Sarina Wegman talks about Beth Mead’s return to the England squad after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The crowd greeted the full-time whistle with enthusiastic celebrations. But they may have misunderstood England’s mission on Friday evening. After two defeats in four matches in the European Nations League, England needed to win by two goals to maintain the lead in the group before its final group stage match against Scotland on Tuesday. But Belgium’s draw with Scotland elsewhere tonight, and England’s 3-2 win, means England’s chances of topping the group depend on preventing Belgium from beating the Netherlands on Tuesday, or England getting a big win over Scotland.

Commenting on the changes required in the second half, England coach Sarina Wegman told ITV: “I don’t think we played badly in the first half, but we had to score a goal and we thought in the first half that we had to change something.” So we brought in Beth Mead and then made some additional changes because we felt we needed better communications and more energy.”

Which explains England’s non-existent celebrations all the time after an unforgettable comeback. Instead, Mary Earps was crying, and Tone fell to the ground with his head in his hands, while the others walked around as if they had been defeated. The teams fell to the ground exhausted, and England wondered why there was such a void of victory. They could still go top of the group, but this is not an English team used to taking matters out of their hands.

After Earps said she felt like she had let the team down, Wegman said: “I talked to her very soon and I don’t want her to talk like that because you win as a team and you lose as a team. When something happens ‘at the back, a goal is scored very quickly.’ This is part of the game. Of course she did not let the team down. Everyone is doing their best and giving everything. You only let your team down when you don’t put in the effort.” In the game.

England entered this match after a string of poor performances since their trip to the World Cup final. The away defeats to the Netherlands and Belgium were shocking, because we had become accustomed to seeing England win under Wegman. But on Friday, in front of 71,632 fans at Wembley, there was a feeling that the Lionesses could produce another stunning performance to keep the ship pointed in the right direction.

But the first half quickly ended any pre-match optimism. England have been outplayed in every aspect of the pitch. The first goal would make England’s defense bleak to watch as they missed the stability of the injured Millie Bright there, and the new-look partnership between Jess Carter and Alex Greenwood lacked familiarity. Bernstein took advantage, taking advantage of disorganization from Bronze and Carter in the opener, then pounced on a series of mishaps in the second.

England 0-2 Netherlands
Match: England 3-2 Netherlands

The Lionesses make a great comeback against the Netherlands in front of 71,000 fans at Wembley 👏 pic.twitter.com/bKmLixsu0P

– ESPN UK (ESPNUK) December 1, 2023

First Carter missed with a header, then Greenwood failed to cut out Bernstein’s shot and Earps saw the shot slide in wide of the near post. But both goals were lucky to survive or exist. England should have been awarded a corner kick before the Netherlands scored their first goal, but after Hemp’s effort was saved, the referee awarded a goal kick. A few seconds later the Dutch scored. Bernstein then appeared to be offside for the second. But with no VAR, both stood. England were down and out and looked in poor shape.

But then Mead came in the first half. She returned to an England shirt for the first time in over a year after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Her presence on the right wing helped rebalance England’s midfield after being outnumbered and outrun in the first half. She provided more in midfield than Kelly, who was substituted, and England played with more urgency.

Stanway’s header after 58 minutes came from a brilliant cross from James, while Hemp’s shot from outside the box two minutes later was capped off by a brilliant passing move and conversion from the point of attack. Russo and Tony were ready to participate at this point, but Wegman sat them down again. Seven minutes later they were introduced and England found another gear. But only in the 91st minute did they break the Dutch’s resolve for the third time when James’ cross found Toon at the far corner and he slotted home.

But no matter how hard they tried, they could not impose a fourth. So they are relying on Belgium’s kindness, or finding their own free goals which – apart from a Chinese win – have not been seen since last year’s comfortable Arnold Clarke Cup campaign.

Wegman is now looking forward to the next match. “We need to win in Scotland, and now we really need to win. We’re counting on the other game, but if we want to progress, we need a really good four-goal win I think. We can control the play well and win this game,” she said. This is what we need to do first. We can’t control what other people do.”

England are not out of the woods yet, but that is an unusual scenario after such a period of dominance under Wegman. They could end up in a relegation play-off if they finish third in the group, or they may be planning a semi-final. The super-subs that saved the day brought back more than a hint of Euro 2022 feeling, but England have yet to salvage their Nations League campaign.