Scotland 0-6 England
EXCLUSIVE pitchside photography from Impetus’ Arwen Moses at Hampden Park.
Report by Ben Phillips (6/12/23).
Above: Spectacular action as Alessia Russo gets a shot in on goal. Photo: Arwen Moses for Impetus.
The stakes could not have been any higher going into the final fixture of the UEFA Nations League for England, with the Lionesses needing to secure a win against old rivals Scotland at Hampden Park and bettering the Netherlands result against Belgium if they stood a chance of automatic qualification for the final stages of the Nations League and keep the Olympic hopes alive.
Coach Sarina Wiegman made two changes to her Lionesses starting line up giving a first start to Manchester City defender Esme Morgan, and Arsenal’s Beth Mead also got her first start for England in 12 months since recovering from her ACL injury. Scotland Manager Pedro Martinez Losa made four changes to his side that drew their last game against Belgium.
England started the game brightly with a similar attacking mentality to how they finished Friday’s fixture against the Netherlands. Lionesses’ fans did not have to wait long to witness the first goal when Beth Mead executed a perfect cross from a corner that allowed Alex Greenwood to break the deadlock rising above the Scottish defence and glancing a header past the stranded Lee Gibson in the Scotland goal on 12 minutes.
Shouts for a penalty rang out around Hampden Park shortly after the restart when Lucy Bronze made minimal contact in the England box on Scotland’s Lisa Evans, but the referee waved off the appeals from the Scottish players.
Lauren Hemp should have doubled England’s lead in the 30th minute of the game when Lauren James placed a pass through to Hemp unmarked, and from two yards out her side-footed chance hit the post. Both sides created plenty of chances in the first half hour or so making it an exciting and entertaining fixture to watch. England piled on the pressure and their build-up play was a pleasure to watch.
James doubled England’s advantage in the 37th minute and it took a slice of luck with the Chelsea star hitting a shot that took a deflection as it went past Scotland’s Gibson after the hosts failed to clear their lines after another England corner. Straight after the restart with Scotland rocked after conceding again, Niamh Charles ran at the Scottish defence before feeding the ball across shortly after for James’s second goal when she ran at the Scottish defence before feeding the edge of the box to an unmarked Chelsea and Lionesses team mate to finish superbly into the far corner of the net.
Beth Mead found the net with a well-placed goal, from a James cross with her first Lionesses goal in 15 months on the stroke of halftime which was a fantastic way to bring the first half to a close. The Lionesses were clinical and were a delight to watch.
Shortly after the restart, brilliant play down the right-hand side from Stanway allowed Fran Kirby to capitalise on the Scottish defence napping by scoring a well-placed tap-in from within the six-yard box for England’s fifth.
A melee in the Scottish box on 58 minutes saw the Lionesses nearly score again, with Kirby rattling the crossbar with a great effort after Charles and Mead had chances and were denied.
A poor back pass in the 70th minute allowed Hanson to pounce for Scotland, who attempted to pass round Mary Earps in the England goal but Earps stood big and made a vital interception to deny Scotland a goal.
The visitors still pushed for more as the second half progressed and their attacking play, intensity, and determination to get the job done was impressive throughout the game. Despite this, they still needed Earps to produce a world-class save in injury time to deny Thomas from scoring.
Lucy Bronze scored a hugely important goal for England late in injury time with a well-placed header in the 93rd minute which was the last action of the game at Hampden Park.
Wiegman’s team had a nervous wait at the final whistle as they had to wait for the result in Belgium to determine their own outcome on qualification. It was a night of incredible drama, but it was not to be England’s lucky night as the Netherlands won 4-0 against Belgium to top the group on goal difference meaning the Lionesses would out of the running for the semi-finals of the competition, and with it the end of the Olympic qualification dream.
Beth Mead said after the match when asked to sum up her emotions, “We are devasted and done everything we possibly could on the pitch tonight. The team was incredible but unfortunately, it wasn’t in our hands, and yes the Netherlands got the four goals, and fair play to them.” Mead went on to say it was “Devastating to miss out by such small margins, but that’s football and it wasn’t meant to be.”
It proved a night to forget for Scotland fans, despite recently signing a new contract extension the Scottish fans will be asking questions of head coach Martinez Losa, who got his tactics wrong. The hosts were lucky that it was not more than six goals conceded against a dominant England side. Martinez Losa said shortly after the match to BBC Scotland, “Very frustrated and disappointed, I want to apologise to the fans. This is not the level we expected, especially in the first half, we totally lost concentration. It was a tough night for our players, and I take full responsibility.”
England have finished their 2023 international campaign strong, playing exciting attacking football, and can hold their heads high. Mistakes in earlier fixtures in the tournament are what has cost them a place in the semi-finals overall. However, one thing is sure when the disappointment fades and the dust settles is that Wiegman’s Lionesses will bounce back and come back hungry for more success in 2024.
More of Arwen Moses’ EXCLUSIVE photos from Hampden Park for Impetus:
Teams: SCOTLAND (3-4-1-2): Gibson, Corsie, Clark, Mukandi, McLauchlan, Cuthbert, Kerr, Docherty, Evans, Hanson, Emslie. Substitutes used: Howard (for Clark 45′), Brown (for Mukandi 45′), Lee Napier (for McLauchlan 45′), Harrison (for Hanson 79′), Thomas (for Emslie 64′).
ENGLAND (4-3-3): Earps, Bronze, Morgan, Greenwood, Charles, Stanway, Walsh, Kirby, Mead, Hemp, James. Substitutes used: Toone (for Kirby 65′), Russo (for Mead 65′).
Scorers: Greenwood 12′. James 38′, 39′. Mead 45+1′. Kirby 49′, Bronze 90+3′.
Referee: Lonela Alina Pesu (Romania).
Attendance: 15,320.
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