England vs Northern Ireland LIVE: Euro 2022 result and final score as Alessia Russo adds to Beth Mead goal
Alessia Russo made an instant impact from the bench as her quickfire double added to first-half goals from Fran Kirby and Beth Mead
England made it three wins out of three at Euro 2022 as the tournament hosts defeated Northern Ireland 5-0 at St Mary’s Stadium.
Having already qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners, England named an unchanged team for the third match in a row but Northern Ireland defended well in the opening stages to frustrate the Lionesses.
Northern Ireland were already unable to progress to the knockout stages but it took until Fran Kirby’s excellent strike on 40 minutes for England to take the lead, and it was swiftly followed by Beth Mead’s fifth goal of the tournament.
England made three changes at half time but it was Alessia Russo who made the biggest impact, scoring a header and then adding a quick second after a sublime turn and finish.
With England manager Sarina Wiegman unavailable for the match after testing positive for Covid-19, the Lionesses made it five late on after Northern Ireland defender Kelsie Burrows turned Mead’s cross into her own net.
England will now look forward to a quarter-final against either Spain or Denmark next Wednesday. Follow live reaction from St Mary’s, below:
GOAL! England 2-0 Northern Ireland (Mead 44’)
It’s Mead again! And this is another class goal. It breaks to the Arsenal forward in the box and the first two touches to bring it down and then turn are quality. The strike takes a deflection that may have beaten Burns - but that’s her fifth of the tournament already!
GOAL! England 1-0 Northern Ireland (Kirby 41’)
What a finish this is! England take the lead after all their pressure. The ball falls to Kirby on the edge of the box and she places a curling finish into the corner to give the Lionesses the breakthrough!
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
39 mins: Off the line! Brilliant play from England and Hemp to cut Northern Ireland open with the ball to Kirby. It’s squared to Stanway but Holloway is there to clear. Great defending!
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
37 mins: A wild shot from Millie Bright goes well wide. That’s a further sign that Northern Ireland’s plan is working. Sarina Wiegman won’t be pleased with this at all.
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
34 mins: Great defending from McGuinness to get back and block Bronze’s cross from the right wing.
Wade then almost gets behind the England defence but is flagged offside.
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
31 mins: Chance! What a ball from Mead - she lands it on the six-yard line and finds Bronze in space from the free kick. But the header drifts wide of the far post!
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
30 mins: Still no way through for England. Northern Ireland are defending so well. There’s no room for either Hemp or Mead on the wings.
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
26 mins: Another half-chance for Northern Ireland as they come forward, but they can’t find the ball through to Wade. Still, Kenny Shiels’ team have started well here.
England 0-0 Northern Ireland
23 mins: Chance! Brilliant play from Bronze to release White - the goalkeeper Burns comes out to close the angle and White can’t steer the ball inside the far post!
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