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England triumphed over Italy 5-1 in their second consecutive friendly match in southern Spain, with Lauren Hemp delivering two goals in the first half.
After four days since their 7-2 victory against Austria at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Algeciras, the Lionesses initiated another overwhelming win when Lotte Wubben-Moy scored her first international goal within the first few seconds.
Hemp then added two efforts, the second an excellent header, to put England three goals up just past the half-hour mark.
Michela Cambiaghi scored a goal for the away team just before halftime. In the second half, substitutes Ella Toone and Rachel Daly finished off the match with additional goals.
After a successful start to the new year, England’s next event will be the opening matches of the Euro 2025 qualifiers in April. This marks the beginning of Sarina Wiegman’s team’s effort to defend their title, which they achieved on their own turf in 2022.
Making five alterations to her initial players chosen for the match against Austria, Wiegman witnessed England start off in a similar manner, once again securing an early advantage.
This time, the goal was even faster than Alessia Russo’s third-minute goal against the Austrians. Just one minute into the game, Wubben-Moy scored with a header off of Alex Greenwood’s corner, marking her first goal for England.
Wubben-Moy saw a further header turned around a post by Laura Giuliani soon after before the Lionesses’ lead was extended in somewhat fortuitous circumstances following another Greenwood corner.
Wubben-Moy is jubilant after scoring her first goal for the England team.
(The Football Association via Getty Images)
In the 21st minute, The Manchester City defender passed the ball, which was then punched away by Giuliani. Aurora Galli then made an attempt to clear the ball, but it ended up hitting Hemp and going into the goal.
Grace Clinton’s shot was blocked by Giuliani and Niamh Charles was relieved when Cambiaghi intercepted her pass to Mary Earps. However, Hemp scored with a great header off of Georgia Stanway’s cross in the 34th minute, making the score 3-0.
Wiegman’s team continued to attack, with Greenwood taking a free-kick that missed and Giuliani stopping attempts from Kelly and Russo. In the final moments of the first half, Earps had to make a save to block a shot from Cantore. Unfortunately, England lost possession near their own goal and Cambiaghi capitalized on the opportunity to score.
At the 64-minute mark, Lauren James was substituted onto the field, and her angled shot from the edge of the box was skillfully blocked by Giuliani.
After five minutes, James received a long pass from Greenwood, and went on to create a cross from the left for Toone, who had just entered the game. She skillfully side-footed the ball into the goal, securing the win for Manchester United.
Earps avoided consequences when her kick went directly to Cantore, who then passed it to Cambiaghi. However, Cambiaghi missed the shot from a favorable angle.
In the 79th minute, England took advantage of an Italian mistake and scored a goal from newcomer Daly. Daly intercepted an errant pass, maneuvered around Giuliani, and smoothly scored, bringing the score to 5-1.
Toward the end of the game, James came close to scoring a sixth goal. Giuliani made a great save to stop her shot.
The source is independent.co.uk.
