England vs Netherlands LIVE: Result, final score and reaction from Euro 2022 warm-up as Lionesses run rampant
England 5-1 Netherlands: Follow reaction from Elland Road as the Lionesses continue Euro 2022 preparations in style
A dominant second-half display from England secured a thumping 5-1 victory over the Netherlands in their latest Euro 2022 warm-up match at Elland Road.
England coach Sarina Wiegman led the Dutch to the European title in 2017 and watched as her former side took the lead through prolific midfielder Lieke Martens.
Lucy Bronze, soon to be a teammate of Martens at Barcelona, equalised for the Lionesses, before they pulled away after the break with further goals from Beth Mead (two), Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp providing an emphatic win.
It might have been different had Dutch midfielder Sherida Spitse, winning her 200th cap, not missed a penalty when she struck the post with the scores level. England went up the other end of the pitch and Mead gave them the lead 54 seconds later and they never looked back.
Follow all the reaction from Elland Road as England thump the Netherlands:
Five-star England thump reigning champions Netherlands to continue Euro 2022 warm-up in style
England Women delivered a significant statement ahead of next month’s home European Championship as they came from behind to thrash reigning champions Netherlands 5-1 at Elland Road in their penultimate warm-up match.
After the first half had seen Lucy Bronze cancel out Lieke Martens’ opener, the Lionesses had a let-off seven minutes into the second half when Sherida Spitse, on her 200th Netherlands appearance, struck a penalty wide.
A minute later, Beth Mead put England ahead with a close-range finish, and fellow substitute Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp then added efforts in the 72nd and 74th minutes.
Mead subsequently netted her second late on to complete a superb victory for Sarina Wiegman’s side against the team she led to Euro 2017 glory and the 2019 World Cup final.
England are now 13 games unbeaten since Wiegman took charge of them, with this 11th win of her tenure a major confidence boost a few days out from the start of their Euros campaign.
Five-star England thump Netherlands to continue Euro 2022 warm-up in style
England 5-1 Netherlands: Lionesses ran rampant at Elland Road as Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead (2), Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp all scored
Can England win the Euros?
Based on their last two performances, the Lionesses are going to be a handful in Euro 2022. They’ll have home support, options on the bench and a serial winner for a coach.
England remain unbeaten since Sarina Wiegman took charge and are developing into ruthless finishers.
One more game to go until Euro 2022 gets underway.
England 5-1 Netherlands
Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV: “It was a very good game on the highest level, it is very nice to score five goals but actually we went behind for the first time and it’s how we reacted on that - we needed to come back from not playing well and get the game to a high standard, so that was good.
“It shows this team has a lot of depth and so much quality, we have so much opportunity to change the game and have more impact. We can keep up the tempo while the Netherlands dropped their tempo a little bit.
“For us, it is just that we say when we lose we go with our plan and when we win we go with our plan - we don’t think we are there because some things didn’t go well and we have to improve that too, so we will start working on that on Monday.
“I am absolutely happy, such a high level game and of course the score says a lot, that is really good, the second half was really good. We are in a good place and still some things to improve.”
England 5-1 Netherlands
A five-star performance in the second half from England. Smiles all round in Leeds.
England 5-1 Netherlands
Beth Mead spoke to ITV4 after the match and seemed delighted with her own performance. Rightly so to as the forward chipped in with a brace to take the game away from the Netherlands.
“I am enjoying my football right now, that is showing on the pitch - just glad I can help the team today.” said Mead. “We didn’t play great the first half, we were sleepy, sloppy on the ball. We reacted really well to the penalty.
“It is tougher opposition, Netherlands haven’t won a Euros and got to a World Cup final for no reason, so it shows the quality. These games are for learning but winning and playing well is the confidence we need heading into the Euros.”
England 5-1 Netherlands
Cue the celebrations.
England 5-1 Netherlands
England finished with 13 attempts and six on target scoring five of them. What’s surprising is that those stats feel a little low, England totally dominated the second half.
Sherida Spitse’s missed penalty as a real sliding doors moment.
England 5-1 Netherlands
What a second half! There were so many great performances from the England players. Fran Kirby was exceptional in the first 45 minutes but her contributions will likely be overlooked by the impact of the substitutes.
Beth Mead score twice and Ella Toone got one herself. Lucy Bronze and the imperious Lauren Hemp also joined in the goal scoring frenzy.
Hemp was terrific on the left, just as she was against Belgium last week and today she got herself a goal.
Full-time: England 5-1 Netherlands
90+4 mins: Off the bar! Kiera Walsh dinks the ball to Ella Toone who lets it roll past her body before feeding it into the box for Alessia Russo. Russo hits a left-footed strike that does for Van Veenendaal and rattles into the crossbar!
That would have been the icing on the cake.
The full-time whistle goes not long after that effort and England have blown the Netherlands away at Elland Road.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments