- goal scored by E. White
- goal scored by A. Popp
- goal scored by K. Bühl
- goal scored by E. White
-
goal scored by
- A. Popp goal scored by
- K. Bühl
Phil Neville unable to hide disappointment
'A killer blow'
Phil Neville could not hide his disappointment after his England Women’s team were defeated 2-1 by Germany in front of 77,786 fans at Wembley Stadium.
It was a record attendance for the Lionesses but Klara Buhl’s 90th-minute winner put a dampener on the historic occasion.
Neville said: “We wanted to beat the second-best team in the world and that was a real killer blow at the end.
“The first 22 minutes and the last eight minutes have cost us. We weren’t good enough and Germany were better in those periods and that’s why they won the game.
“I thought we competed well. We conceded late because we did not use our experience in game management. The players are devastated as they wanted to get a good result.
“I can’t fault the players’ endeavour, but some mistakes are costing us.”
Germany captain Alexandra Popp headed her side into a deserved ninth-minute lead and Ellen White equalised just before the break.
Nikita Parris saw her penalty saved by Merle Frohms midway through the first half and Buhl scored late on as Germany made it back-to-back wins over England at Wembley following their 3-0 success in November 2014.
Neville added: “I thought we were lucky to [be only] 1-0 [down]. After 22 minutes we started to play how we wanted to play.
“From 22 minutes to 82 minutes the game went exactly how we thought it would go.
“The emotional control in the first part of the game is something we need to work on, those real critical moments. That is top-class football. You cannot for a split second lose concentration, you cannot for one second switch off.
“It’s that consistency of performance and behaviour that we’re trying to find.”
The defeat means England have won only one game, against Portugal, since reaching the World Cup semi-finals in the summer.
And Neville was in no mood to sugar-coat his side’s results this season.
He said: “There’s no hiding away from it. One win in seven is totally unacceptable. It’s not what I see as success and we need to do something about it very, very quickly.
“We can talk about coming down from the emotional highs of the World Cup but when you get to November that becomes an excuse. We’re not having any excuses.
“It starts with me. I’ve got to take responsibility for those results. I’m the one who picks the team, I’m the one who sets the tactics.
“The team always reflects the manager. At this moment in time the results aren’t good enough which means that I’ve not been good enough.”
England take on Czech Republic on Tuesday night, a match you can watch live on The FA Player, and Neville wants his players to end the year on a winning note.
He added: “We wanted to win tonight and it’s a massive disappointment.
“But the players have to pick themselves up. That’s what the best players do: they have to go through disappointment and success. It’s a challenge.
“It’s my job to pick the right team to get a result in the Czech Republic. It will be a massive test for us.”
International Games
Late Germany goal dampens historic occasion at Wembley
Klara Buhl scored in the final minute as Germany edged England Women 2-1 in front of 77,768 fans at Wembley Stadium.
Alexandra Popp headed the visitors into a deserved early lead but Ellen White levelled from close range to become the first player to score for the Lionesses at the home of football.
The game was played out in front of a record attendance for an England Women’s match, surpassing the 45,619 who watched Germany defeat Mark Sampson's side under the arch five years ago.
But Buhl put a dampener on the historic occasion with her 90th-minute winner.
Jordan Nobbs almost scored after just eight seconds in that second match, but it was the visitors who started better this time around with Lena Oberdorf forcing Mary Earps to tip a fierce left-foot shot onto the crossbar in just the third minute. They went ahead soon after.
Some patient build-up down the right led to Kathrin Hendrich crossing for Popp, the Germany captain, who converted a diving header from six yards out.
The two-time world champions were in control in the opening exchanges and England’s first real opening didn’t arrive until just before the half-hour mark when Beth Mead was found by Keira Walsh’s sublime cross-field pass. The Arsenal forward drove into the box from her left-hand berth but her cutback to White was turned behind for a corner.
This attack lifted the atmosphere inside Wembley, which was further buoyed when Mead was brought down inside the box by the on-rushing Merle Frohms.
The Germany keeper was booked for the misdemeanour but quickly made amends by saving Nikita Parris’s subsequent spot kick.
There was nothing Frohms could do about the equaliser.
Where the visitors had started the stronger of the two sides, it was England who finished the first half in the ascendancy and they made their dominance count just before the break when Keira Walsh, looking increasingly at home as her country’s main playmaker, whipped a great ball into the box.
White got in behind the Germany defence to direct her shot beyond Frohms from close range and send the record crowd into raptures. White had just written her name into Wembley folklore.
Dzsenifer Marozsan fizzed a 20-yard shot just over the top before White dragged a low shot wide of the far post.
Germany thought they had restored their lead when Lina Magull bundled home the loose ball after Earps had parried Buhl’s low shot, but the flag was raised for offside.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side, ranked second in the world, increased the pressure late on, forcing Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton to make last-ditch clearances inside their own box.
And with the game seemingly heading for a stalemate, Marozsan collected the ball in midfield and played in Buhl. The 18-year-old moved into the box and beat Earps with a low, angled drive into the far corner.
England (4-2-3-1): 13 Mary Earps (Manchester United); 2 Lucy Bronze (Lyon), 5 Steph Houghton (capt; Manchester City), 14 Leah Williamson (Arsenal), 3 Alex Greenwood (Lyon); 4 Keira Walsh (Manchester City), 8 Jill Scott (Manchester City); 7 Nikita Parris (Lyon), 10 Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), 11 Beth Mead (Arsenal); 18 Ellen White (Manchester City).
Substitutes: 17 Rachel Daly (Houston Dash) for Mead 73, 9 Jodie Taylor (Reign FC) for White 73, 22 Lauren Hemp (Manchester City) for Parris 73, 16 Georgia Stanway (Manchester City) for Nobbs 77.
Substitutes not used: 1 Carly Telford (Chelsea), 6 Millie Bright (Chelsea), 12 Demi Stokes (Manchester City), 15 Abbie McManus (Manchester United), 19 Lucy Staniforth (Birmingham City), 20 Beth England (Chelsea), 23 Gemma Bonner (Manchester City).
Goal: White 44
Head coach: Phil Neville
Referee: Stephanie Frappart (FRA)
Attendance: 77,768
