11 May 2006
VIDEO: England 2-0 Hungary

England maintained their position at the top of their qualifying group with a 2-0 win over Hungary.

 

England

2-0

Hungary

Exley 41
Scott 90+1

 



Women's World Cup Qualifier
Thursday 11 May 2006
Southampton FC

Goals from Vicky Exley and Alex Scott were enough to give England a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over a stubborn Hungarian side at the St. Mary's Stadium.

A free-kick from Exley a few minutes from half-time gave Hope Powell's side the lead but they were made to wait until injury time to make the points safe when Scott scored a back-post header from Sue Smith's cross.

Hungary lost 13-0 to England in October last year and they approached this match with a far more defensive attitude as they looked to frustrate the group leaders and restrict them to a limited number of chances.

That tactic looked to be working as England struggled to find a way through - Faye White, captaining the side on her 50th appearance, Sue Smith and Karen Carney all went close whilst a wonderful 30 yard effort from Exley was tipped over by Melinda Szvorda in the Hungarian goal.

England did feel hard done by when Everton's Jody Handley went over in the box after a powerful challenge from the defender but the referee waved away English claims for a penalty.

Then on 28 minutes, Anita Asante did everything but score when her deft flick from Smith's superb right-wing cross was brilliantly touched onto the post by Szvorda.

The visitors threatened to take a shock lead six minutes before half-time when lone centre-forward Anett Nagy found some space on the edge of the England area but her effort was well saved by Rachel Brown, who had to dive far to her left.

Finally, three minutes before half-time, Doncaster Rovers forward Exley broke the deadlock when she curled a free-kick from 20 yards into the bottom right corner of the net, beyond the reach of the slightly unsighted Szvorda.

It was a well taken set piece and some credit must go to White, whose efforts in disturbing the Hungarian wall no doubt contributed to Exley being able to steer home her sixth goal on her 47th appearance.

As if galvanised by the goal, England started finding more space in Hungarian territory and nearly scored a second when Jo Potter's cross was missed by everyone save for an inadvertent flick off Rachel Unitt which clipped the post before bouncing out of play.

A minute later, Szvorda's goal was again under attack and Jody Handley will be disappointed she didn't do better when the goalkeeper split Carney's long range effort into her path only to save the Everton player's follow-up shot.

Hungary were virtually unable to leave their own half in the second period but on the one occasion they did, England were again indebted to Everton keeper Brown who again saved well, this time from Eglis Czuder.

With 25 minutes remaining, debutant Lianne Sanderson, who had only been on the pitch ten minutes, rifled a fierce shot from 22 yards onto the underside of the bar. With Szvorda beaten, Scott couldn't quite force the ball home.

Two more chances came and went before Scott did finally put the seal on the win when first Smith and then Casey Stoney both failed to make the most of good opportunities to score.

When that second goal did finally arrive, it was one worth waiting for. Sanderson's cheeky back heel enabled Smith to get beyond her marker on the left and her perfect cross was well watched by Scott who headed home from a few yards out.

Afterwards England Coach Hope Powell told TheFA.com: "I always knew it would be tough to break them down [because] Hungary set out for damage limitation.

"It was a great free-kick to open the scoring and I'm really pleased with some of the players who came in. Lianne Sanderson played really well and it was a great experience for her and hopefully she can use this to go onwards and upwards."

The win means England have gone unbeaten for a whole season for the first time in 12 seasons and all eyes will now be on Saturday's meeting between group rivals Holland and France.

England: Rachel Brown - Everton, Lindsay Johnson - Everton (Casey Stoney - Charlton Athletic, 69), Rachel Unitt - Everton, Anita Asante - Arsenal, Faye White (c) - Arsenal, Mary Phillip - Arsenal, Karen Carney - Birmingham City (Alex Scott - Arsenal, 57), Jo Potter - Charlton Athletic, Jody Handley - Everton (Lianne Sanderson - Arsenal, 54), Vicky Exley - Doncaster Rovers, Sue Smith - Leeds United.

Subs: Siobhan Chamberlain - Bristol Academy, Laura Bassett - Birmingham City, Rachel Yankey - Arsenal, Amanda Barr - Charlton Athletic.

Attendance: 8,817