SARINA GETS NERVY NIGHT
Hosts start with victory but must be more clinical
PLAY the game, not the occasion was the instruction from England’s head coach Sarina Wiegman. Easy to say, harder to do when the full reality of a home Euros dawns.
Beth Mead’s 16th-minute goal gave England the victory they craved from their opening group game as the tournament swung into action at Old Trafford but it was more tense than it might have been.
Having dominated the first half, England went into their shells after the break and had Austria been given a penalty late on after a convincing hand ball shout against captain Leah Williamson it would have been a different story.
England need to be more ruthless but a win is the launchpad they needed.
Unbeaten in their 14 games under Wiegman before last night, their scalps included last night’s opponents.
So expectation was sky-high at Old Trafford for the hosts – an unusual sensation for a game at this stadium in recent times.
But the 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light in November flagged up a tough opening encounter against the Austrians and so it proved even though their opponents are ranked 13 places below England.
Wiegman sprang a surprise by leaving defender Alex Greenwood on the bench but the defence was hardly overworked in the first half.
England’s 1-0 half time lead was the least they deserved for some promising approach play orchestrated by a dominant midfield in which Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh shone. They also benefited from the outstanding distribution of Mille Bright from the back.
The goal came from Mead with a neat finish, dinking the ball over advancing Arsenal clubmate Manuela Zinsberger in the Austrian goal after a fine ball from Fran Kirby. Defender Carina Wenninger desperately hacked it onto the underside of the bar but the ball had already crossed the line. Ellen White should have scored in the 26th minute, flashing a header from Lauren Hemp’s cross wide.
The same pair combined, this time down the right, just before the break but the header from England’s leading goalscorer was just off target again. Then, in injury time, Zinsberger denied Hemp from close range. But the second half was a different story as Austria came more and more into the game. England were handed a warning when Katharina Naschenweng went close with a shot on the turn.
That prompted a triple change from Wiegman with Kirby, who missed the second half of last season with fatigue issues, one of those to give way along with Mead and White. Alessia Russo, White’s replacement, had a great chance
almost immediately when Hemp’s free-kick fell to her unmarked just outside the sixyard box but the Manchester United striker fluffed her lines.
Chloe Kelly, another of the subs, pulled her shot just wide with 15 minutes. But it took a fine sprawling save from England goalkeeper Mary Earps to thwart Barbara Dunst.
Austria thought their moment had come with the penalty appeal but VAR decided in the home side’s favour.
England will play better – they will need to – but they are up and running.
ENGLAND (4-3-2-1): Earps 7; Bronze 7, Bright 8, Williamson 7, Daly 7; Walsh 8, Stanway 8, Kirby 7 (Toone 63, 5); Hemp 7, Mead 7 (Kelly 63, 6); White 6 (Russo 63, 6). Goal: Mead 16.
AUSTRIA (4-1-4-1): Zinsberger 7; Wienrother 6, Wenninger 7, Schnaderbeck 6 (Georgieva 77), Hanshaw 6; Puntigam 6; Dunst 6, Zadrazil 7, Feiersinger 7 (Hobinger 87), Naschenweng 7 (Hickelsberger-Fuller 59, 6); Billa 5.