England Women 1, Austria Women 0
Beth Mead was the difference-maker with the only goal in England’s 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford in the Women’s Euros.
Embed from Getty ImagesMead, who missed out on a TeamGB squad space in the Tokyo Olympics, lobbed her Arsenal team mate – Austrian goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger – to get England into the lead after just 16 minutes at a record sold-out crowd of 68,871 at Old Trafford for a Women’s Euros game.
Not even a brief VAR check could dampen the spirits in Manchester but England might have made more of their dominance in the opening Euros game at Old Trafford.
Manchester City’s Ellen White somehow missed a chance to double that lead in the first half while Lauren Hemp was a constant danger but was wasteful against a well organised Austria side and Chloe Kelly came on as a second half sub and gave England’s opponents something to think about with early crosses and shots.
With the scoreline narrow, the Austrians forced a pair of saves out of Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps while fellow United players Ella Toone and Alessia Russo came on in the second half as England refreshed the side.
Job done for sure but England head coach Sarina Wiegman will demand more sharpness in front of goal from her side as the tournament continues.
The next game is a showdown against highly fancied Norway who face Northern Ireland tomorrow at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium.
After tonight’s game, England will travel south for the rest of the tournament – the final will be at Wembley if they make it that far.
There will be games in the Manchester area though – Manchester United’s Leigh Sports Village holds 7,800 while Manchester City’s Academy Stadium will be allowed to hold just 4,400 due to UEFA rules barring standing supporters – they will host Iceland twice.
MATCH STATS – England 1, Austria 0 – Women’s Euros
England: Earps, Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly, Stanway, Walsh, Mead (Kelly 64), Kirby (Toone 63), Hemp, White (Russo 64)
England Subs not used: Hampton, Roebuck, Greenwood, Carter, Stokes, Scott, Parris, England, Wubben-Moy
Austria: Zinsberger, Wienroither, Wenninger, Schnaderbeck (Georgieva 77), Hanshaw, Puntigam, Dunst, Zadrazil, Feiersinger (Hobinger 87), Naschenwng (Hickelsberger-Fuller 59), Billa
Austria Subs not used: Kresche, Pal, Degen, Schasching, Schiechtl, Kirchberger, Eder, Makas, Enzinger
Referee: Marta Huerta de Aza