England vs Belgium LIVE: result and reaction as Lauren Hemp early goal gives Lionesses win in Nations League
England return to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Belgium in the Nations League
England returned to winning ways as the Lionesses beat Belgium in the Women’s Nations League clash in Leicester.
The European champions and World Cup runners-up defeated Scotland in Sunderland to open their Nations League campaign but then suffered just their third defeat under Sarina Wiegman in a 2-1 loss at the Netherlands.
The result had put England in third place in Group A1 ahead of the double-header against Belgium, who lead the standings on four points following their win against Scotland and draw against the Netherlands.
But the Lionesses found just enough on the night to beat Belgium, although it was far from the clinical performance they would have wanted. Despite dominating possession and chances, they were only able to find the net once and that left the game more open than it could have been.
The Lionesses must win their group to advance to the Nations League Finals, and must then get through the semi-finals to book Team GB’s qualification spot for next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Follow for all the latest updates from the King Power Stadium:
England 1-0 Belgium
74’ SAVE! Evrard again has to come charging out to try and get anything on it and keep it away from the incoming England attacker.
She does well, but they will have to keep this up to stop England getting a second.
England 1-0 Belgium
73’ England keep plugging away, but so far the Belgian defence has been solid enough to stop them getting a second.
There’s just under 20 minutes remaining of this Nations League match.
England 1-0 Belgium
71’ Alex Greenwood takes the shot! It was a good curled strike and was heading into the back of the net before being saved by Evrard
England 1-0 Belgium
69’ The Belgian goalkeeper had to be alert there to push the ball away from the incoming England player.
The Lionesses will have a free kick just outside the box for a foul on Stanway.
England 1-0 Belgium
67’ Charles has given the ball away and Belgium will have a chance to break, but Greenwood wins the ball back.
England 1-0 Belgium
66’ Greenwood has another ball in, this time from a free kick almost in the position of a short corner, but again Belgium are able to clear the ball away from the danger area.
England 1-0 Belgium
64’ The fans are holding their phone lights aloft as they do often at women’s games for a reason that isn’t apparent.
Fran Kirby will be coming on to a great cheer, with Rachel Daly in the first changes of the game for Sarina Wiegman.
England 1-0 Belgium
63’ Belgium come again, Bronze makes the interception, but it feels like the visitors are starting to believe they can find a way back into the game.
England 1-0 Belgium
60’ Stanway could have been shown a yellow card there for that ‘tactical foul’ near the half way line as Belgium tried to break.
Earps then just managed to find Bronze with a pass that was close to being intercepted by Delacauw.
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