England vs Austria LIVE: Result and reaction after Russo and Mead strike twice and Lionesses score seven
Follow all the live action from the Lionesses match in Marbella
England bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on Olympic qualification in their last match with a 7-2 thrashing of a sub-par Austria.
In the first match of their February training camp in Marbella, the Lionesses stormed to victory, with Alessia Russo and Beth Mead both finding the net twice in the emphatic victory.
Russo opened hers and England’s account after just three minutes when she capitalised after the goalkeeper did not deal with the niitial shot and she was ideally placed to tap the ball home.
Grace Clinton then capped off her debut with a goal in the 19th minute. Austria briefly threatened to turn the tide of the game when Virginia Kirchberger headed one back for Austria, but Beth Mead’s first goal of the evening soon restored England’s advantage.
In the second half it was all England, first Russo’s second, then Jess Carter’s improvised backheel established a strong lead.
Kirchberger left England puzzling over how they had allowed the forward to score twice from set pieces, but Mead hit back almost straight away before Rachel Daly’s stoppage-time strike in a one-on-one situation wrapped up the win.
Follow all the live updates in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips here.
England 5-1 Austria
85 mins: Hampton has not had a lot to do in this match so far, but she was quick off her line there to gather the ball and prevent any chance of Austria adding another goal to their total.
England 5-1 Austria
82 mins: Wubben-Moy had to be alert at the back to force a corner, Austria scored from a corner in the first half, and it was another good delivery that England did not clear convincingly.
But eventually they manage to get the ball back with a goal kick.
England 5-1 Austria
80 mins: England try and attack again, but that time it came to a premature end when Carter was flagged up for offside, despite being well behind the line of defenders in the middle of the pitch.
England 5-1 Austria
77 mins: Austria make some changes of their own, but can they get another goal in this match.
England take off Stanway and bring on Kiera Walsh.
England 5-1 Austria
75 mins: England are pretty much coasting through this one now, the only question is how many more goals can they score in the remaining 15 minutes of normal time.
England 5-1 Austria
72 mins: Rachel Daly was just momentarily down and receiving treatment after a heavy challenge, but she is okay to continue.
GOAL! Carter scores her side’s 5th! England 5-1 Austria
69 mins: GOAL! England have a fifth! Carter was in the right place at the right time to backheel the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to just help Wubben-Moy’s header home.
England 4-1 Austria
66 mins: England might have made the changes, but that hasn’t stopped them coming here, and Zinsberger had to be alert to tip the ball behind for a corner and potentially prevent another probing cross from behind headed into the back of the net.
England 4-1 Austria
62 mins: That will be Russo’s last involvement and she comes off, there is also the introduction of Jess Carter
Subs in full:
Off: Alessia Russo, Grace Clinton, Niamh Charles
On: Jess Carter, Jess Park, Rachel Daly
GOAL! Russo scores her second - England 4-1 Austria
GOAL! 60 mins: Russo has her second! England’s pressure has just been too much.
The Lionesses win the ball back in midfielder and play Russo in and all she has to do is take a touch and then fire it past the goalkeeper.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments