Right, that’s all from me. You may like to know the remaining fixtures in Group A3, and they are as follows:
30 May
Belgium v Spain
England v Portugal
3 June
Spain v England
Portugal v Belgium
And here is Tom Garry’s match report:
England’s puzzling, Jekyll-and-Hyde form continued as Sarina Wiegman’s side were beaten in Belgium despite a world-class debut goal from the Lionesses striker Michelle Agyemang.
Brought on as a substitute for the final 10 minutes with England trailing 3-1, the 19-year-old’s first two touches of senior international football saw her control the ball with her thigh and volley home an outstanding, instinctive finish that gave the visitors hope of a late comeback, but they were unable to add to that magical moment and were left to rue their poor first-half performance.
Much more here. Bye!
Serena Wiegman has a quick chat:
We started really sloppy and they exploited us. We conceded three goals within half an hour which is of course not good enough. I think we played a better second half, but overall it wasn’t good enough.
She’s asked if she’s worried about the team’s inconsistency:
We expected this and we were prepared for this. We said this was going to be a totally different game. We’ve been here before. I think this game it also had to do with being ready and being really focused, and that’s what we didn’t do the first 30 minutes. That’s the biggest lesson we can learn from this.
Leah Williamson, the England captain, has a chat:
We started too slow. They were very quick. We didn’t damage them with the ball in the first half like we did in the previous game. You’ve got to deal with runners better than we did today. I don’t think that should be an area of weakness for us. We just gave them too much space in the spaces they wanted. It’s disappointing. We should be winning this game, that’s why we’re frustrated.
It was more to do with them, and us not jumping up as much as they did. They came out a completely different side to the one in Bristol the other night, we just didn’t adapt well enough.
That Agyemang goal, though. Just superb. It’s been a bad night for England, but that was so, so sweet.
So England drop to second in the group with seven points. Spain are top, with nine points, and Portugal third with four, one ahead of Belgium.
“We want to show that we are better than we were then and we can do a lot better,” Sarina Wiegman said yesterday referring to England’s last trip to Leuven, when they lost 3-2. Well, they didn’t do a lot better.
Final score: Belgium 3-2 England
90+6 mins: But England give the ball away one final time, and the referee ends it!
Updated
90+6 mins: Into the sixth minute of stoppage time and it’s still not stopping.
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90+5 mins: It goes straight to the other keeper, though, and Lichtfus catches.
90+4 mins: Agyemang wins a corner. The keeper’s coming up!
90+4 mins: Stoppage time has been mainly taken up by a succession of free-kicks.
90+2 mins: England have a free kick but Blom goes down after being pushed gently in the neck by Esme Morgan. Morgan and Blom are both booked.
90+2 mins: One more substitution sees Teulings go off and Tinne De Caigny come on.
90+1 mins: Toone sends a shot bouncing wide from 20 yards, as four minutes of stoppage time are signalled.
89 mins: Teulings is booked for protesting a throw-in decision. There was only one minute of stoppage time at the end of an action-packed first half, which suggests the fourth official is unlikely to delivery good news for England when she raises her board in a few seconds.
88 mins: Belgium crowd the penalty area as they prepare to take the corner, but it’s played short and there is zero chance of it going anywhere near anyone in that penalty area.
87 mins: A rare foray forward for Belgium ends with Dhont’s cross deflecting behind for a corner, just their second of the game.
84 mins: Proper jeopardy in the game now. Carter is brought down by Dhont on the left, but the free-kick is headed behind by Williamson.
82 mins: Toone is booked for fouling Cayman. She did reach out as if to pull her back, but I’m not sure she did any pulling at all.
82 mins: Agyemang took 41 seconds to get on the scoresheet. And what a goal it was!
GOAL! Belgium 3-2 England (Agyemang, 81 mins)
Unbelievable! The ball’s lifted into the area where Agyemang controls and then volleys inside the near post in one smooth movement!
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80 mins: That’s Park’s last contribution, as she’s replaced by the 18-year-old debutant Michelle Agyemang.
79 mins: From the free kick England win a corner, from which they win another corner, from which (eventually) Park’s shot is deflected over the bar for another.
78 mins: Another booking, Delacauw punished for taking out Bronze on England’s right, which is where the ball seems to be spending most of its time.
76 mins: Bronze wins this one, but Cayman does enough to stop her controlling the header, which goes wide of the far post. Belgium bring Elena Dhont on for Philtjens.
75 mins: England win a corner, but it’s just too high for Bronze. Then Deloose fouls Williamson and there’ll be another chance to stick it in the mixer.
73 mins: England are playing with a front five now. Davina Philtjens becomes the first player to be booked, for stopping Toone from taking a quick free kick.
70 mins: A couple of changes for Belgium: Jassina Blom replaces Eurlings, and Feli Delacauw comes on for Detruyer.
68 mins: Beever-Jones tries to get on the end of a Bronze cross, but steamrollers through Tysiak to do so and gives away a free-kick.
66 mins: Toone has a shot from the right-hand corner of the penalty area. It would have had to be absolutely perfect to beat Lichtfus and nestle as intended in the top, far corner. It wasn’t. Goal kick.
63 mins: Belgium slice England open down the left, but the linesman rescues the situation with a very generous offside call.
62 mins: England have shown more urgency in this half, have committed more numbers forwards, and Belgium have been almost entirely on the back foot. They need a goal, though.
60 mins: England bring on Ella Toone for Clinton, and Fran Kirby for Parris.
58 mins: Missed! From the corner Bronze wins the header well but it’s just too high for her and she can’t control it. Goal kick.
Updated
57 mins: Save! Williamson’s 30-yard shot is high and hard, down the middle of goal but dipping just under the bar, and Lichtfus does well to tip it over the bar.
55 mins: Bronze goes down in the penalty area and the referee blows her whistle … and books Bronze for diving. She burst between Vanhaevermaet and Tysiak, but there isn’t enough space for a human and contact is inevitable, is insignificant, and she goes down anyway. Perhaps a booking is harsh, but it certainly wasn’t a penalty.
Updated
52 mins: England create a chance, but not only can they not take it, they don’t even have a shot! Perhaps the ball ran a bit too far in front of Mead, but she could have flung her leg at it at the expense of control. Instead she just lets it run, catches up with it on the byline, and is then closed down.
49 mins: A decent start from England, it’s just the whole finding-a-teammate-inside-the-penalty-area thing. A free-kick from the right is sent into the area, and touched behind for a corner.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! Suddenly and from nowhere the game kicks off again. England have brought Jessica Carter and Esme Morgan, and taken off Charles and Bright.
Half time: Belgium 3-1 England
45+2 mins: And that’s it! England have a foothold in the game thanks to that penalty, but given how little they’ve created it’s hard to feel optimistic for them. England have had one shot on target, and needed a penalty to get that; Belgium have had four, all but one from open play.
45+1 mins: Just one minute of stoppage time after four goals and a couple of injuries, you say? OK …
44 mins: England are playing the ball around well enough in midfield, but Belgium are giving them nothing anywhere near their penalty area.
41 mins: Another excellent cross from Bronze, and it looks like Parris was going to win it, but Deloose beats her to it.
39 mins: Excellent pressure from England repeatedly stops Belgium playing the ball out of defence, but eventually they win it, Parris’s 25-yard shot sails high, and the home side can reset.
36 mins: Deloose volleys a clearance into the head of Vanhaevermaet, and the game is stopped to check that she is unharmed, which she is.
GOAL! Belgium 3-1 England (Mead, 35 mins)
Boos ring out as Mead prepares to take the penalty, but her aim is spectacularly good, the ball rolling just inside the post and into the side netting! Lisa Lichtfus goes the right way, but has not a hope of keeping that out.
Updated
England have a penalty!
34 mins: Beth Mead gets to the ball first, Philtjens barrels into her, Mead goes down, and the referee points to the spot!
32 mins: Belgium go close again! A ball down the right allows Janssens to outpace Charles and run into the area, but she ends up shooting from a tight angle and Hampton gets a foot to it.
GOAL! Belgium 3-0 England (Wullaert, 29 mins)
Now they’re three up! Bronze is caught out of position as a ball over her releases Philtjens on the left, and her cross is low, hard and generally excellent. Bright is in front of Wullaert but doesn’t throw herself at it, and Wullaert behind her turns it in!
Updated
28 mins: I’m not sure Belgium deserve a two-goal lead, but they’re playing excellently, defending in numbers but well organised and motivated, closing down, snapping into tackles.
24 mins: Bright nearly gets on the end of a free-kick but Cayman puts her off. The game in Vigo has finished, Spain beating Portugal 7-1.
22 mins: Bronze is tripped in the area by Philtjens. It wasn’t exactly violent but it was a foul, and should have been a penalty. One of those nights?
21 mins: England really haven’t created anything at all, but now Bronze sends in an excellent cross that, well, nobody gets on the end of so they still haven’t created anything at all, but that was close.
18 mins: This time Wullaert is the provider, curling in the centre after Eurlings wins another free-kick down the Belgium left. Vanhaevermaet beats Leah Williamson to the header, and though she doesn’t get any pace on it it’s just too high for Hampton to reach.
Updated
GOAL! Belgium 2-0 England (Vanhaevermaet, 16 mins)
Belgium double their lead as Justine Vanhaevermaet’s header from a free-kick loops over Hampton and into the net!
Updated
15 mins: Mead gives the ball away to Eurlings, just outside England’s penalty area, but the eventual centre is overhit and intercepted.
14 mins: Wullaert finds some space on the right and in front of her Millie Bright backs away in apparent terror. It does mean she’s still on the spot when Wullaert decides to have a shot, and able to deflect it behind.
12 mins: Hannah Eurlings goes down for a while after Lucy Bronze clips her heel as the pair sprint for the ball down England’s right flank.
8 mins: England have had a couple of shots so far, both of them blocked by a defender within a couple of feet of the ball leaving the striker’s boot. Nikita Parris with the latest: she was in a good position for a shot, but with nowhere near enough space.
8 mins: An update from Vigo, where Spain are now 7-1 up against Portugal, with 10 minutes or so to play.
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5 mins: It’s a superb ball over the England defence, between left-back and centre-back, and Wullaert outpaces the defenders, sprints into the box and shoots across Hampton and in off the far post!
Updated
GOAL! Belgium 1-0 England (Wullaert, 4 mins)
Belgium have control of the ball for the first time in the game, and they only go and score!
2 mins: England keep the ball well for a couple of minutes, but then a pass down the left flank towards Grace Clinton is slightly overhit and a defender intercepts.
1 min: Peeeeeep! England get the game started!
Out come the players! Kick-off is a couple of anthems, a few handshakes, and approximately four minutes away.
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Sarina Wiegman says Hannah Hampton is indeed the current No1, ahead of Mary Earps:
At this moment she’s a little bit ahead. I think we have two world-class goalkeepers so it has been a really hard decision but at this moment Hannah’s a little bit ahead.
Tom Garry is in Leuven tonight, and has sent this update from the ground:
As the sun drops behind the horizon at the end of a perfect, blue-sky spring Tuesday in the picturesque, student city of Leuven, both sets of players are warming up in front of me to the beating soundtrack of a long playlist of Belgian dance anthems.
In terms of the England team news, Sarina Wiegman had three big decisions - who to play up front with Alessia Russo injured, who to play on the left wing with Lauren James injured, and who to start in goal after more than a year of questions over whether Mary Earps or Hannah Hampton is the ‘number one’? The latter now appears to be the answer as Wiegman has selected Hampton for a third consecutive Lionesses game, giving her strongest indication yet that Earps has been replaced in the pecking order.
In attack, Wiegman has gone for the experienced Nikita Parris and the Chelsea youngster Aggie Beever-Jones, while one further change sees Jess Park replace Ella Toone in the No10 role. Belgium have been boosted by the return of their captain, Tessa Wullaert, who missed Friday’s game at Ashton Gate with a knock. The Inter striker will be the hosts’ most dangerous, pacy threat. England were caught on the counter-attack several times when losing 3-2 on this ground 18 months ago on a bad night all around for the Lionesses, as Alex Greenwood suffered a nasty concussion in that game. The few-hundred travelling fans away to my right will be hoping to make some happier memories this evening.
Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir, the Belgium manager, says her big hope for the evening is that she sees “more energy, more belief in themselves. I want to see my team believe in the plan throughout 90+ minutes.”
As we kill time while the clock ticks gently towards kick-off, here’s Suzanne Wrack’s report on England’s emphatic victory over these very opponents in Bristol on Friday:
In tonight’s other game in Group A3 Spain were 4-0 up against Portugal in less than half an hour, and that’s how the score remains with a few minutes to play before half-time. The Spaniards are, as I type, 13-0 up in shots.
The teams!
The line-ups have been announced, and here they are:
Belgium: Lichtfus, Cayman, Tysiak, Deloose, Janssens, Philtjens, Vanhaevermaet, Teulings, Detruyer, Wullaert, Eurlings. Subs: Evrard, Bastiaen, Elyn, Delacauw, Missipo, Van Kerkhoven, De Caigny, Dhont, Wijnants, Blom, Toloba, Mathys.
England: Hampton, Bronze, Charles, Williamson, Bright, Walsh, Clinton, Park, Parris, Mead, Beever-Jones. Subs: Earps, Moorhouse, Turner, Carter, Morgan, Le Tissier, Parker, Kirby, Toone, Symonds, Naz, Agyemang.
Referee: Maria Caputi (Italy).
Hello world!
Halfway through their Nations League group-stage campaign and England sit proudly atop the group popularly known as A3, having won at home against both Spain and Belgium and drawn in Portugal. Belgium have not a single point to their name, though they were 2-1 up in Valencia back in February before the Spaniards scored two stoppage-time goals to turn the game around and, as various members of the England group have been talking about this week, they last time this fixture was played, a year and a half ago, the hosts won it 3-2.
“We didn’t play our best and it was at the back of the World Cup so we were struggling with our levels a bit,” Sarina Wiegman said. “How I see [this game] is that we really want to kind of get revenge on ourselves. We want to show that we are better than we were then and we can do a lot better.”
England are missing a string of senior players, including Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway and Alex Greenwood, who all have knee injuries, as well as Lauren James and Alessia Russo, who both pulled out over the weekend, and Chloe Kelly. The 19-year-old Arsenal forward Michelle Agyemang, who according to left-back Niamh Charles is “so pacy” and “can probably change a game in an instant” has been called up and could make her debut.
So, welcome! And may I suggest you start your evening by reading the Tom Garry preview I shamelessly stole most of that information from? You’re too kind.
