ENGLAND WILL TAKE a comfortable lead into the second leg of their Women’s World Cup play-off semi-final after they earned a 3-1 victory over Greece in Crete.
Sarina Wiegman’s side will look to finish the job when the two teams meet in the return leg at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday, with the winners facing either Slovakia or Ukraine in the next round for a place at next summer’s tournament.
Lauren James thought she opened the scoring but was ruled out through offside before Ioanna Papatheodorou hit the crossbar for the hosts before Georgia Stanway’s fifth goal in qualifying gave England a half-time lead.
First goal
Maya Le Tissier doubled England’s advantage with her first goal for her country before Alessia Russo got in on the act to take the game away from Greece.
England, who missed glorious chances to win by more, were handed a warning that the tie is not over as Kallisti Brouksair replied for Greece to cut the deficit to two with their only shot on target.
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Ahead of kick-off, the two sides took part in a minute of silence in memory of Greece defender George Baldock, marking the second anniversary of his death.
England enjoyed the early possession and put the hosts on the back foot from the off, threatening a couple of times through Stanway and Keira Walsh who both missed the target.
The Lionesses started to ramp up the pressure and Greek goalkeeper Fafailia Petaloti was twice pulled into action within minutes to firstly deny Laura Blinkilde Brown before pushing Le Tissier’s effort wide.
England thought they made the breakthrough in the 20th minute when James neatly lifted one over Petaloti but the goal was ruled out by VAR after she failed to get herself onside in the build-up.
The first 30 minutes resembled a training drill of English attack against Greek defence, with James seeing a free-kick from a good position go wide as the hosts continued to hold firm.
Greece made a rare foray forward and almost stunned the favourites in the 34th minute when Papatheodorou surged up the field and rifled an effort from 25 yards off the crossbar.
But England did finally break the deadlock six minutes before the break.
A nice passing move between Walsh, Blinkilde Brown and Russo ended up at the feet of Stanway who swept home.
England gave themselves some breathing space just past the hour mark when Walsh played it into Le Tissier who lashed in at the near post.
Greece started to tire and England were beginning to run away with the contest as they notched a third when substitute Beth Mead showed some tricky footwork to fashion an opportunity for Russo who finished neatly.
Greece breathed life into the game with 13 minutes to go when Brouksair aimed across Hannah Hampton and into the back of the net to remind the visitors that the tie is not yet over.
England almost restored their three-goal lead but Jess Park was denied by the underside of the bar.
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England win in Crete to take healthy lead into return play-off against Greece
ENGLAND WILL TAKE a comfortable lead into the second leg of their Women’s World Cup play-off semi-final after they earned a 3-1 victory over Greece in Crete.
Sarina Wiegman’s side will look to finish the job when the two teams meet in the return leg at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday, with the winners facing either Slovakia or Ukraine in the next round for a place at next summer’s tournament.
Lauren James thought she opened the scoring but was ruled out through offside before Ioanna Papatheodorou hit the crossbar for the hosts before Georgia Stanway’s fifth goal in qualifying gave England a half-time lead.
First goal
Maya Le Tissier doubled England’s advantage with her first goal for her country before Alessia Russo got in on the act to take the game away from Greece.
England, who missed glorious chances to win by more, were handed a warning that the tie is not over as Kallisti Brouksair replied for Greece to cut the deficit to two with their only shot on target.
Ahead of kick-off, the two sides took part in a minute of silence in memory of Greece defender George Baldock, marking the second anniversary of his death.
England enjoyed the early possession and put the hosts on the back foot from the off, threatening a couple of times through Stanway and Keira Walsh who both missed the target.
The Lionesses started to ramp up the pressure and Greek goalkeeper Fafailia Petaloti was twice pulled into action within minutes to firstly deny Laura Blinkilde Brown before pushing Le Tissier’s effort wide.
England thought they made the breakthrough in the 20th minute when James neatly lifted one over Petaloti but the goal was ruled out by VAR after she failed to get herself onside in the build-up.
The first 30 minutes resembled a training drill of English attack against Greek defence, with James seeing a free-kick from a good position go wide as the hosts continued to hold firm.
Greece made a rare foray forward and almost stunned the favourites in the 34th minute when Papatheodorou surged up the field and rifled an effort from 25 yards off the crossbar.
But England did finally break the deadlock six minutes before the break.
A nice passing move between Walsh, Blinkilde Brown and Russo ended up at the feet of Stanway who swept home.
England gave themselves some breathing space just past the hour mark when Walsh played it into Le Tissier who lashed in at the near post.
Greece started to tire and England were beginning to run away with the contest as they notched a third when substitute Beth Mead showed some tricky footwork to fashion an opportunity for Russo who finished neatly.
Greece breathed life into the game with 13 minutes to go when Brouksair aimed across Hannah Hampton and into the back of the net to remind the visitors that the tie is not yet over.
England almost restored their three-goal lead but Jess Park was denied by the underside of the bar.
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