England vs Austria LIVE: Result and reaction after Russo and Mead strike twice and Lionesses score seven
Follow all the live action from the Lionesses match in Marbella
England bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on Olympic qualification in their last match with a 7-2 thrashing of a sub-par Austria.
In the first match of their February training camp in Marbella, the Lionesses stormed to victory, with Alessia Russo and Beth Mead both finding the net twice in the emphatic victory.
Russo opened hers and England’s account after just three minutes when she capitalised after the goalkeeper did not deal with the niitial shot and she was ideally placed to tap the ball home.
Grace Clinton then capped off her debut with a goal in the 19th minute. Austria briefly threatened to turn the tide of the game when Virginia Kirchberger headed one back for Austria, but Beth Mead’s first goal of the evening soon restored England’s advantage.
In the second half it was all England, first Russo’s second, then Jess Carter’s improvised backheel established a strong lead.
Kirchberger left England puzzling over how they had allowed the forward to score twice from set pieces, but Mead hit back almost straight away before Rachel Daly’s stoppage-time strike in a one-on-one situation wrapped up the win.
Follow all the live updates in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips here.
GOAL! Clinton scores on debut! England 2-0 Austria
19 mins: GOAL! Clinton has her goal on debut!
Having just seen one rebound off the woodwork, Clinton was in the right position to capitalise on some poor defending to head a Lauren Hemp cross into the back of the net.
England 1-0 Austria
17 mins: As the rain has started to fall in Spain, the match has not got off to the most electric start, but England have been by far the more promising.
England 1-0 Austria
15 mins: Chance! Grace Clinton came so close to a goal on debut, she struck the ball from the edge of the box, but the ball rebounded back off the woodwork.
England 1-0 Austria
13 mins: Austria are just trying to find their feet in this match after going behind early, but a ball through the middle that briefly threatened to be promising was easily gathered by Hampton.
England 1-0 Austria
11 mins: Just a quick reminder that Chelsea’s Fran Kirby was injured in the pre-match warm up, after the teams were announced and has been replaced by Ella Toone.
England 1-0 Austria
11 mins: England have a corner, but Austria are able to clear their lines this time.
England 1-0 Austria
9 mins: Hampton is equal to her first test of the match, it was a lofted free kick into the area and the England goalkeeper jumped high above her defenders to take the catch.
England 1-0 Austria
8 mins: England have kept on the pressure and most of the possession, but it was really a goalkeeping error that allowed them to take the early lead.
GOAL! Russo puts the LIonesses ahead - England 1-0 Austria
4 mins: GOAL! Beth Mead makes a run down the right and forces the goalkeeper to palm it away, but none of the defenders can clear it or put it behind and Russo is just in the right place to fire the ball home.
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