England wanted to round off this group by maintaining their rhythm and will enter the knockout stages fully in the groove. With Sarina Wiegman self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19 and assistant Arjan Veurink taking charge in her place, the only changes were in the dugout and on the scoreboard.
The same starting line-up that gave Norway one hell of a beating scored just the five goals this time rather than eight but bent a resilient Northern Ireland to their will all the same.
Those who arrived at St Mary’s expecting another mauling would have to wait for it. Though there were predictions of another record scoreline and perhaps one tipping into double figures, discipline, organisation and resolve are the qualities that have brought Northern Ireland to their first major international tournament and they were not about to be forgotten quickly. At times during a competitive first half, Kenny Shiels’s side proved they could also pose a threat of their own.
Barely a minute has passed when Lauren Wade stole in behind Rachel Daly down the right, cut inside and forced an uncertain stop out of Mary Earps. The England goalkeeper had already faced as many shots on target as she had all evening in Brighton four days earlier. It would not be the last time that Wade would trouble centre-halves Leah Williamson and Millie Bright either, slipping in twice more while the game was still goalless, after probing work from Rebecca Holloway and Kirsty McGuinness.
Those were exceptions to a first half that otherwise went according to expectation. England were predictably dominant, if lacking all the early intensity that obliterated Norway. Like in Brighton, an early penalty might have helped speed things along, but referee Esther Staubli reversed her decision to punish Laura Rafferty for handling a Georgia Stanway shot. The pitchside monitor helped her spot that Beth Mead had committed the same offence seconds earlier.
The breakthrough only arrived five minutes before half-time. By that point, the mounting pressure that Northern Ireland was under was beginning to tell. Sooner or later, one of the rebounds from their desperate blocks and last-ditch challenges would bounce kindly for an England player. Fran Kirby was the lucky one, though there was nothing fortunate about her connection with the ball, which rose majestically into the top right-hand corner and out of Jackie Burns’ reach.
With their resistance broken, and the rowdy section of green and white travelling support finally quietened, Northern Ireland would concede again before the break. Mead sits two goals clear at the top of the Golden Boot standings after her fifth of the tournament took a deflection off Rachel Furness – enough of one to evade Burns and nestle in the bottom corner, but not so great as to go down as an own goal. Group stage hauls are often key to finishing as a tournament’s top scorer, and Mead’s closest competition now comes from one of England’s second-half substitutes.
Alessia Russo was one of three changes at halftime, alongside Ella Toone and Alex Greenwood, and she made an immediate impact. On a night when Ellen White was hoping to match and surpassed Wayne Rooney’s all-time scoring record for a senior England team, her understudy replaced her and bagged a brace. The first, like against Norway, was a deft header, converting a Mead cross. The next was her seventh in only 10 caps and perhaps the best, made possible by an exquisite turn to manipulate Toone’s pass towards goal, then a clinical, unforgiving finish.
On the balance of play over 90 minutes, given how resolutely they had defended for the majority of the first half, Northern Ireland did not deserve to concede a fifth. But when it came, Shiels’ part-timers were out on their feet. Their manager turned away with his head in his hands after watching substitute Kelsie Burrows stick her right leg out to block another Mead cross and accidentally divert it into an unguarded net. Perhaps Burns called for the ball and she did not hear it, but even then, it was a cruel goal to concede. Russo should have added a sixth –completing her hat-trick – late on, but missed from point-blank range.
Very little was expected of Northern Ireland, though, and they can depart with pride in how they have performed, particularly in the first 40 minutes here. For the Lionesses, expectations have grown with each of the 14 unanswered goals they have scored in this group stage. But they continue to meet them.
