Above. Photo: EquipeDeFranceF
by Joe Rosedon (1/6/24)
Sarina Weigman, in her 50th game as head coach of England, was able to pair Leah Williamson with Milly Bright at centre-back for the first time since the Lionesses 6-1 victory over Belgium in February 2023. Jess Carter was chosen at left-back over Alex Greenwood, with a view to counter the dynamism of Lyon’s Kadidiatou Diani. The injured Lauren James was replaced by Beth Mead.
France manager Herve Renard, who served a touchline ban for this game replaced, injured all-time top goal scorer Eugéine Le Sommer with Marie-Antoinette Katoto. Other changes from France’s last match against Sweden included Élisa de Almedia and Sakina Karchaoui coming in for Griedge Mbock Bathy Nka and Grace Geyoro. Karchaoui’s role was of particular interest, picked as a midfielder instead of her usual position of left back.
England’s opening attacks were centred on the left-hand side of the pitch. Combination play between Carter and Lauren Hemp forced Diani deeper to help De Almedia with defensive duties.
This proved to be successful as England scored the opening goal through play down this flank. Hemp was given plenty of time and space to deliver the ball from the left, eventually reaching Mead on the opposite wing to score.
Alessia Russo also drifted into the left-hand channel. The Arsenal forward isolated Wendie Renard held up the ball and allowed Hemp and Ella Toone to be brought into play.
In the centre of the pitch, Kenza Dali was tasked with the critical role of keeping England’s metronome Kiera Walsh quiet, a job she succeeded at during the first half. The aforementioned Karchaoui was also successful in her midfield role, intercepting the ball on numerous occasions when England looked to threaten from an attacking point of view, France attempted to press England and hit them on the counterattack, but this approach was ineffective in causing the home side problems defensively. Diani stuck to the right-hand side but as the half drew on, she made runs centrally when France were in promising attacking positions.
Bearing that in mind, it made sense that France found their equalizer from a corner and a moment of individual brilliance. De Almedia was able to wriggle away from her markers at the end of the box and volley home superbly. France did look brighter towards the end of the first half after scoring, having much more control of possession. Interestingly France, whose biggest assets are their wide players, were subdued.
From the beginning of the second half, France looked to rectify this and made more of a
concerted effort to focus their attacks on the flanks. Delphine Cascarino was almost a beneficiary of this new focus, firing just wide.
However, it was poor defending from a set piece that allowed the visiting side to take the lead.
England again could not deal with a French corner; this time it was Katoto on hand to capitalize with another excellent finish.
Following this goal, Cascarino was replaced by Amandine Henry. This substitution signified that France were content with taking a more defensive approach for the remainder of the game, as it added an extra body in midfield to increase stability and security. France was able to control the game with relative ease from this point, keeping England at arm’s length. In particular, England’s midfield were stifled by a controlled approach.
In response, England withdrew Georgia Stanway for Fran Kirby and Mead for Chole Kelly, trying to find an attacking spark which they severely lacked in the second half. Bronze did find space but was unable to pick out Russo at the back post. De Almedia also did a much better job of containing Hemp in the second half than in the first.
This was another worrying performance from England, who since the World Cup, have been unable to match their lofty standards. England can still qualify from their group, but a second-place finish seems the most likely outcome For France, a win away to the reigning European Champions and World Cup finalists, is a tremendous result. This puts them in an excellent position to top the qualifying group.
England: Earps, Bronze, Williamson, Bright, Carter, Stanway, Walsh, Toone, Mead, Hemp, Russo
Goals: Mead (30)
France: Peyraud-Magin, De Almedia, Lakrar, Renard, Bacha, Toletti, Karchaoui, Dali, Katoto, D.Cascarino
Goals: De Almeida( 43), Katoto (68)
Referee: Marta Huerta De Anza
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