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England began their final preparations for this summer’s European Championships with a stunning Nations League performance at Wembley on Friday night.
It’s been a trying week for Sarina Wiegman. The ACL injury sustained by Ella Morris and the shock retirement of Mary Earps have provided more than a challenge.
A fast start in the latest Nations League fixture would provide some welcome relief. What she got was an utterly ruthless first half as her side tore into Portugal without mercy.
How England fared in the Nations League
England were ahead inside three minutes. It was a goal that owed much to the tenacity of Jess Park. The Manchester City star dispossessed Andreia Norton on the edge of the Portuguese box. The loose ball fell kindly for Aggie Beever-Jones. She scuffed her shot, but it had just enough on it to roll over the outstretched foot of Inês Pereira.
Portugal barely had time to compose themselves before the Lionesses doubled their advantage. Lauren Hemp started the game like lightning on the left of the England attack.
Beever-Jones miscued Hemp’s brilliant cutback. But Beth Mead was right behind her to follow up, though her effort was denied by a great save from Pereira.
Unfortunately for the Portuguese keeper, the ball spun up and away and into the path of Lucy Bronze. She headed home into an empty net as Portugal’s appeals for offside were waved away.
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England’s first half blitz continued
Francisco Neto’s side were punch drunk. England might’ve added a third had Hemp’s ball been a couple of inches closer to Beever-Jones after eight minutes.
A glimmer of a fightback appeared for Portugal when Norton’s header struck the base of Hannah Hampton’s post. But that was as good as it got as England ruthlessly kicked into a devastating higher gear.
Beever-Jones added a third in the 26th minute, after ending up in acres of space to head home with a wonderful Bronze cross.
Three minutes later, Beth Mead got in on the act to add to her collection of fond memories of all things Portuguese this week. Park threaded the eye of the needle to find Mead, who turned Catarina Amado inside out. England’s No. 7 finished the job as she slid the ball home.
England, and more specifically Beever-Jones, weren’t done there. She took Leah Williamson’s ball into her stride and let it fly with a crisp finish into the bottom left to complete a sensational hat-trick.
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A second half of control and dominance
England headed into the break with a commanding 5-0 lead, a scoreline that felt like the least they deserved. Their front three of Hemp, Beever-Jones and Mead had utterly swamped the Portuguese defense.
The second half, by contrast, was a far more serene affair. England comfortably played keep-ball, content to tire out an already beaten Portugal.
It gave Wiegman an opportunity to get minutes into players’ legs. The return of Alex Greenwood was a welcome sight ahead of the upcoming summer.
Mead combined with Chloe Kelly to add to the Portuguese misery. Her ball in found the head of the on-loan Arsenal forward, and she duly converted England’s sixth of the evening.
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Game management and what’s next for England
The game unsurprisingly hit a lull. Over as a contest and disrupted by a raft of substitutions, it became an exercise in game management for England. A clean sheet would be a welcome bonus too.
With 15 minutes to play, Greenwood interrupted that lull with a free-kick that rattled the crossbar. Kelly mistimed her follow-up and headed it well wide of the open goal.
Beever-Jones was intent on adding to her haul for the evening. But Pereira was there to parry away Beever-Jones’ instinctive outside-of-the-foot effort.
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As the game drifted into the late May evening to a backbeat of Portuguese drums and English trumpets, the final whistle blew. England now shift their focus to Tuesday’s Nations League meeting with Spain.
Victory in Barcelona will secure a Nations League semi-final berth. It’ll be a huge boost for England as they prepare to defend their European crown this summer.
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