England suffer defeat to Germany in seven-goal thriller

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Wembley Stadium

England suffered defeat by Germany as the teams that contested the Euro 2022 final at Wembley returned to the same stage and delivered a seven-goal friendly thriller.

It was a chaotic evening in north London as England failed to control the game and fell 3-0 down within half an hour.

Germany captain Giulia Gwinn scored twice, once from the penalty spot, before Klara Buhl added a third, stunning the Lionesses on home soil.

But Sarina Wiegman's side responded when Georgia Stanway's quick-fire double narrowed the deficit, and they could have added more with Alessia Russo striking the outside of the post and having a goal disallowed for offside in the build-up.

However, there could be no serious complaints with the scoreline at half-time as England's defence was carved apart countless times and duly punished.

Germany were equally as poor in defence but England were not able to capitalise as they conceded a fourth goal in the second half, when Russo was harshly penalised for a challenge in her own area and Sara Dabritz scored from the resulting spot-kick.

Lucy Bronze was able to poke in a third for England after goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger spilled a free-kick delivery.

However, the home side - dramatic 2-1 winners in that final two years ago - could not find a late equaliser.

The woodwork was hit twice and there were three disallowed goals in total - two for England, one for Germany - as fans were treated to an immense spectacle.

However, it was a match which exposed England's weaknesses, confirming they have a lot of work to do if they want to defend their European crown next summer.

Concerns in defence as fans entertained

Fans would have hoped to witness another epic showdown, two years on from that famous evening at Euro 2022, and this certainly did not disappoint.

It was a wild encounter from start to finish with both teams leaving gaping holes in their defence and goals flowing.

Gwinn's seven-minute double stunned England as the defensive frailties of Wiegman's side were exploited.

On too many occasions Germany were able to split apart England’s backline with one direct pass, and individual errors aided the visitors early on.

Captain Leah Williamson, controversially selected ahead of in-form Manchester City centre-back Alex Greenwood, had a nightmare start when she gifted the ball straight to Linda Dallmann and Millie Bright could only bring her down in the box for the penalty that led to Germany's opener.

Things got worse for England when Jess Carter failed to track Gwinn as she raced through unmarked to fire a second past Hannah Hampton, before the Chelsea goalkeeper was caught out at the near post by Buhl's strike, which she had been able to squeeze between Bronze's legs.

It was a catalogue of errors in a horrible defensive showing – but Germany were equally as poor at the back.

Every time England went forward they looked like scoring, with the Arsenal pair of Russo and Beth Mead – struggling for form with their club – causing all kinds of problems near the Germany area.

Russo was unfortunate not to be on the scoresheet when Ella Toone was just offside as she backheeled the ball to her former Manchester United team-mate to thump into the roof of the net.

Minutes after her disallowed goal, Russo then struck the outside of the post.

That was not the only time the woodwork was hit before the break, because Dallmann's clever lob had to be tipped on to the crossbar by Hampton on the stroke of half-time.

It was Stanway who delivered the first-half goals for England - the first a penalty after Lauren Hemp's cross was blocked by the hand of Gwinn, and the Lionesses' Bayern Munich midfielder slotted in her second when she was teed up by Mead.

There was no let-up of goals in the second half either as both teams continued to play the sort of erratic football that will no doubt leave their managers with plenty of concerns – but it was entertaining nonetheless.

One thing is for sure: England cannot afford to gift their opponents so many opportunities at the European finals in Switzerland next summer if they want to enjoy more success.

But they showed resilience and attacking intent to make a game of it in the second half, with Wiegman given plenty of food for thought.

Player of the match

G. Gwinn
7.38
11 L. Hemp
6.41
8 G. Stanway
6.39
9 A. Russo
6.24
16 A. Greenwood
6.04
14 J. Park
5.74
20 J. Naz
5.64
7 B. Mead
5.26
1 H. Hampton
5.16
4 K. Walsh
5.00
2 L. Bronze
4.90
3 J. Carter
4.88
19 C. Kelly
4.87
12 M. Le Tissier
4.59
10 E. Toone
4.55
5 M. Bright
4.05
6 L. Williamson
3.94
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