England 1-0 Austria
by Dom Smith
at Old Trafford
THE crashes and the bangs of the opening ceremony left just smog. And once the smog had cleared, all that was left between England and the perfect start at a home Euros was Austria.
England took them on and beat them with an early goal that needed both goal-line technology and VAR to check it had crossed the line. Once it was confirmed, the cauldron erupted.
No England player, woman or man, has ever scored more goals in a single season than Beth Mead’s 14 this term. She took Fran Kirby’s cute pass in her stride, lobbing Manuela Zinsberger who’s usually a teammate at Arsenal, and appealing to the referee that it had crossed the line once Carina Wenninger had cleared.
The referee pointed to the center circle, and Old Trafford erupted.
The fans rightly sense this is England’s year. Sarina Wiegman has done well to build a winning culture devoid of external pressure with England. But her team has developed so well over her first year in charge that they are now seen as one of the favorites to win these Euros.
Though this was not a vintage England win, the pressure will start to build now nonetheless. Mead’s goal kept the expectant fans on side, and with 69,000 of them in attendance at a sold-out Old Trafford — they continued to push England on as the first half progressed.
Kirby and Lauren Hemp were the creative sparks who looked to produce that golden chance to double England’s lead. Hemp played Mead in with a near-perfect disguised pass which the entire Austrian backline misread. Zinsberger gathered and kept England just one goal ahead at the break.
For Wiegman and England, the second half became about preserving the good work England had done in the first.
Had England blown the Austrians’ house down and thundered in half a dozen? No. But tournament football isn’t about that anyway. It’s about control, about winning your battles in the mind, not just on the grass.
Kirby and woman of the match Georgia Stanway tried to test Zinsberger in the second half, with England increasingly adopting a counterattacking style — trying to hurt Austria on the break at moments.
One criticism of England that does warrant airtime is that they still give up too many chances. Katharina Naschenweng reminded them with an admittedly wild effort — although the accuracy of such strikes will only ramp up as England prepare for their toughest test of the group in their next match: Norway.
Opening with a win is vital in a tournament, especially for the host nation with all the pressure that comes if you don’t.
England were mature in the latter stages of the second half, picking smart passes around, through and behind the Austrian press.
Such tournament nous saw them through in the end. A clean-sheet was welcome, and while that insurance goal might have been very welcome indeed, that cherry on top never came.
In the Manchester mizzle, England got their Euros party off to a winning start. The pressure on the Lionesses ramps up another notch.
