England were forced to settle for a Women’s World Cup play-off spot despite easing past Ukraine at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Sarina Wiegman’s side issued the perfect response to the dismal 4-0 defeat to Spain on Friday night, but the world champions’ victory over Iceland means that there is still work to be done for the Lionesses to earn their place in Brazil next year.
Goals from Jess Carter and Georgia Stanway put Wiegman’s side en route to victory in the first half before substitute Beth Mead added the icing on the cake with a wonderful free-kick.
Despite that, England will have to do things the hard way if they want to be on the plane next year.
Coming off the back of their heaviest defeat since the Euro 2009 final, the Lionesses started positively on Merseyside as they looked for the ideal response.
Jess Carter got England up and running with the opener
They took the lead just before the quarter-hour mark as Carter was left unmarked at the back post and had the simple task of heading home a Lauren James cross from close range.
The best move of the game brought the hosts’ second just before the break. Some crisp interplay allowed Alessia Russo to play a square ball into the path of the sliding Stanway who slotted home.
Georgia Stanway celebrates doubling England’s lead vs Ukraine
With Spain already in command in what would turn into a 6-1 victory in Reykjavik, Wiegman’s side came out looking flat in the second half as if they knew they were already condemned for the play-offs.
The atmosphere did at least pick up as Mead rifled a free-kick into the bottom corner to make her the joint fifth-highest scorer in Lionesses history as she notched her 40th and England’s third on the night.
Beth Mead scores England’s third goal in the victory over Ukraine
To an extent, it was all in vain. The European champions must find their way to the World Cup via the play-offs as they finish behind their rivals in Group A3.
Wiegman happy with response but unsure on future team selections
England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking with ITV:
“I’m happy how we showed up, how we played the game against a very defensive Ukraine. Everyone was really disappointed after Spain.
“We’ve seen good things and also things we want to improve. We have a year and some things wrong have to really improve and be ready. We’re trying out some things and we need the year to work out which players are best for us. Players are still improving.
On team selections moving forward:
“I don’t have that answer yet. We can make choices now on which team we have in front of us. Lucia Kendall played in the 10 position in the first game against Spain to make it more defensive. She is an eight. Let’s qualify and then I hope we get a lot of headaches to make these decisions.
“There’s no major tournament for us this summer so a bit of time off. We start preparation after the draw on 18th June. We need to be ready.”
Mead: There aren’t many teams that aren’t qualifying on 15 points
England players celebrate Beth Mead’s goal against Ukraine
England forward Beth Mead speaking to ITV Sport:
“It’s frustrating. You know, there aren’t many teams that aren’t qualifying on 15 points, so it’s the nature of the competition at the moment, and when you’re in a group with Spain.
“It’s very, very tough, and unfortunately, we finished second, and we go to the playoffs, but we stay motivated to obviously qualify that route instead.”
Stanway: We can be disappointed we didn’t score more
England midfielder Georgia Stanway speaking to ITV Sport:
“Mixed feelings, of course. To be honest, it’s very rare to get 15 points and not win the group. I think that shows our level, our consistency. We know that our performance against Spain wasn’t good enough.
“And today we needed a reaction, and I think we got that. I think if anything, tonight we can be disappointed that we didn’t score more goals, and we created a lot of chances.
“We dominated the ball. We need to be more ruthless – 3-0 probably wasn’t enough.”
More to follow…
