Page 12 - Womens Soccer Scene Issue No.5 2022-23

England 2 (Hemp 10, Stanway pen 33)
United States 1 (Smith 28)
att:76,893; at Wembley Stadium
England made a triumphant return to Wembley Stadium, ten weeks after their Euro 2022
success, with a 2-1 victory over the reigning World Champions.
All of the goals came during a fast paced first half and VAR played a huge part in the
match, awarding the England penalty which turned out to be the winning goal and also
disallowing a USA equaliser by the slenderest of offside margins.
Sarina Wiegman made five changes to the side that won 10-0 against Luxembourg in
their last appearance, but the hosts looked settled from the off with Beth Mead testing
Alyssa Naeher in the opening stages.
Mead was looking very sharp once again on the right and it was her run and cross
which led to England taking the lead in the tenth minute, her low ball across goal was not
dealt with at full stretch by Alana Cook and Lauren Hemp pounced to slot home from close
range.
Hemp almost made it two, this time from a Chloe Kelly cross, but this time Naeher
was able to comfortably save.
After a slow start, the United States began to settle down and became more of a threat
as the first half wore on. They were to make a breakthrough just before the half hour,
Lindsey Horan dispossessing Georgia Stanway outside the penalty area and feeding
Sophia Smith, who drilled a low shot past Mary Earps for the equaliser.
Stanway was to be handed the chance to atone herself just five minutes later though,
after Hailie Mace was penalised for a high boot in the area when challenging Lucy Bronze
for a clearance. Bronze had ducked her head but the challenge was deemed to be a
dangerous one on a VAR review and Stanway was able to put England back in front from
the spot, sending Naeher the wrong way.
The USA looked to have levelled again shortly afterwards, when a slick passing move
opened up the England defence and Trinity Rodman finished off after being set up by
Smith but once again, VAR was to intervene and after what seemed an interminable delay,
a marginal offside decision was given against Smith earlier in the build up.
The most remarkable aspect about the second half was that there were no further
goals, with both sides going close on a number of occasions. Smith continued to trouble
the England defence with her strong running and she dragged a shot narrowly side, whilst
at the other end, Kelly curled a shot just past the post and Bronze hti the side netting after
more good work from Hemp, who had been England’s most dangerous player on the night.
Rodman and Megan Rapinoe had good opportunities as the USA furiously sought an
equaliser but it was far from one-way traffic; Stanway almost scored a second with a left
footed drive which flashed inches wide.
VAR was not finished either, it was to come to England’s rescue with nine minutes
remaining when it rightly ruled out a penalty decision. Initially, handball had been the
decision against Hemp as she blocked a shot from Rose Lavelle but replays showed that
the ball had actually hit her in the back.
All in all it was another memorable night for England and, while this will have little
significance regarding major tournaments to come, it was still a good confidence booster
and an extension of the unbeaten run under Wiegman to 23 games.
England: Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly, Keira Walsh, Millie Bright, Alex
Greenwood, Beth Mead, Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp, Fran Kirby (sub Ella Toone
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