Sarina Wiegman’s side opened their Nations League campaign with a win (Will Matthews/PA)
England manager Sarina Wiegman hailed a “very important” three points after the Lionesses opened their Nations League account with a 2-1 win against Scotland.
Just over a month since their World Cup final loss to Spain, the Lionesses picked up an inaugural win in the competition.
Former Black Cat Lucy Bronze opened the scoring at the Stadium of Light before Lauren Hemp doubled the lead and Kirsty Hanson pulled one back – all in the six minutes before the break.
Lucy Bronze, centre, and Lauren Hemp, right, scored England’s goals (Owen Humphreys/PA)
The visitors had opportunities to level in the second half, with Hanson and Christy Grimshaw having the pick of the chances, but were unable to capitalise and Wiegman was pleased her side were able to take the win – which left them alongside Belgium at the top of Group A1 after the latter’s surprise win over the Netherlands.
“First of all I’m very happy with the three points, three very important points,” she told a press conference.
“You see how competitive the Nations League is with the other results we’ve seen.
“I think the first half we’ve played a lot better than the second half and scored two good goals.
“We also gave away a couple of counter-attacks where Scotland showed they were really dangerous in those moments – I think those were our own mistakes that gave them that opportunity – but I think overall we were a lot better the first half and second half we were struggling.
“Overall we kept the win and that’s the most important thing off the back of the World Cup and a very short turnaround where players haven’t played any competitive games yet.”
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