A heavily rotated England side came out 1-0 winners at Bramall Lane in a friendly against next year’s European Championship hosts Switzerland.
Sarina Wiegman made ten changes from her lineup against the USA on Saturday and was quickly rewarded when Grace Clinton scored in the sixth minute. The Lionesses dominated throughout with two-thirds of possession, with Ruby Mace and Laura Blindkilde-Brown among the impressive youngsters in the team.
However, a finishing touch continued to elude England and their attacking threat ebbed somewhat. Despite stoppage time efforts by Georgia Stanway, Clinton’s early goal was all that separated the sides at full time.
As it happened
Sarina Wiegman responded to calls for experimentation with a raft of changes and a formation shift – the Lionesses sat in a back three when in possession, with debutant Ruby Mace just in front and Gabby George and Maya Le Tissier as wing-backs. Grace Clinton, Laura Blindkilde-Brown, and Jess Park played fairly fluid roles in the attacking midfield with Aggie Beever-Jones up top. It was an inexperienced lineup, with Millie Bright having more caps than her ten teammates together, but one that nonetheless took a quick lead.
The Lionesses went ahead inside seven minutes, with Grace Clinton securing her third international goal. After winning a freekick taken by Park midway into the Swiss half, the United starlet was there to sweep home Millie Turner’s header after it rebounded off the post.
Embed from Getty ImagesPark and Clinton continued to shine throughout the first half. The former looked to have set up a second for England ten minutes in when she poked Aggie Beever-Jones through on goal, but Swiss keeper Elvira Herzog just beat her to it. Park and Beever-Jones’ linkup continued to show promise, while Maya Le Tissier enjoyed space on the right to swing in several crosses and the occasional long-range shot (though one was far off target and the other easily saved). Despite their eight shots and 76% of possession, the Lionesses were held to just one goal before the interval. Switzerland had few opportunities to break out of their own half. Esme Morgan’s misplaced crossfield pass in the 38th minute, intercepted by Iman Beney, gave them their only shot on target – but it was easily caught by Hampton.
Alessia Russo was introduced in place of Jess Park at halftime and looked for a moment like reprising her Euro 2022 super-sub goal at Bramall Lane – however, her headed attempt three minutes into the half couldn’t find the target. England were reminded of their fragile lead when Beney got the better of Millie Turner and sprinted clear of Millie Bright, forcing a parry from Hampton. Those early nerves were shaken off fairly quickly and despite an improved performance from Switzerland, England continued to dominate. Debutant Mace, who put in an assured if under-the-radar performance, was replaced by Keira Walsh while Gabby George made way for Beth Mead in the 63rd minute.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere was a wakeup call in the 78th minute when Clinton, having tried to play her way out of a series of Swiss opponents to the left of the England box, gave the ball away to Meriame Terchoun. The 29-year-old found herself with unexpected space to try a long-range effort and Hampton saved England’s lead for the second time, tipping the ball over her crossbar.
Despite a couple of chances for Switzerland, with substitute Lydia Andrade going down in the box under pressure from Beth Mead, the game drifted to the win that England’s dominance of the ball probably merited. However, it will do little to quiet concerns over their difficulties in front of goal. Despite two-thirds of possession and 13 shots, only three were on target – Georgia Stanway seemed likeliest to extend their lead in stoppage time, hitting the side netting and post in quick succession.
Embed from Getty ImagesEngland finish 2024 with a win, and having seen the rotation that some fans felt was desperately needed. But strong performances by several youngsters tonight, as well as the team’s problems finding the net, mean Sarina Wiegman is left with points to puzzle over before England’s Nations League campaign begins in February. Injuries to key players such as Lauren Hemp and Ella Toone may well have played a part in England’s low goalscoring output this international break – so there’s no need to worry yet. What’s more, if the performances of several emerging squad players in friendlies can translate on a bigger stage, there is plenty of promise to draw on in the Lionesses’ European title defence next summer.
The lineups
ENG: Hampton, Morgan, George, Mace, Turner, Bright, Park, Le Tissier, Beever-Jonea, Clinton, Blindkilde-Brown
SUI: Herzog, Stierli, Marti, Maritz, Schertenleib, Crnogorčević, Sow, Vallotto, Calligaris, Terchoun, Beney