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57 min: Belgian goalie Evrard got herself in an unholy mess, but unlike Messrs Alisson and Courtois last night, manages to get herself out of it.
56 min: Andrew Sherman gets in touch, let’s see if he’s proved right: “Russo was a great impact substitute in the Euros, but surely there is a legitimate concern over whether she can hold down the 9 permanently. As for" Daly, well Serina likes an impact substitute so I bet we see her after 60 mins.”
54 min: Kelly fancies a treble, and coming off the wing, the right wing this half, she fires over. Inverted wingers this half, with Hemp cutting in off the left. So much variation in this England squad.
53 min: A Belgian attack. One cleared up by Alex Greenwood, but a Belgian attack nonetheless. Standards must be slipping.
52 min: England have won the Arnie, now to see how many more they can score?
Goal! England 3-0 Belgium (Kelly, 50)
Coming in from the flank, Hemp speeds into the Belgian box, and shoots, and Kelly, again from yards out, taps in for her second, her third of the Arnold Clark.
49 min: Belgium still yet to mount an attack of note.
47 min: Ella Toone has a dig from distance and just narrowly misses, her shot landing on the roof of the net.
46 min: There’s been a half-time sub for the Lionesses. Off goes Lauren James, on comes Lauren Hemp.
Half-time: England 2-0 Belgium
It’s been one-way traffic at Ashton Gate, and Belgium looked likely to be heading into the break just one goal down after weathering quite the storm. Instead, Williamson’s header makes the Arnold Clark Cup all but England’s.
43 min: VAR might well have ruled that one out for Russo’s handball but who knows?
Goal! England 2-0 Belgium (Williamson, 42)
From a corner, Bronze is cool as the ball drops from what looks a Russo handball, and finds space to turn and chip back across goal. Williamson, the skipper, nods home.
39 min: More Lauren James, released by Keira Walsh, and blasting through, only to shoot over. She had Lucy Bronze making an overlap so that probably constitutes a wasted chance.
37 min: James powers down the flank and shoots. Wide this time but the Belgians have little answer to her.
36 min: England having to be patient against such a massed defence, and that may be good practice for their group games.
33 min: The deluge of goals we expected hasn’t yet materialised but then again, Belgium will be getting more and more tired as this game drags on.
31 min: Kelly comes in from the left as Walsh chips in the ball, and after that comes to naught has another zip. Biesmans slides in. Penalty? Kelly thinks so. The referee doesn’t.
29 min: Russo continues to be quiet though does press hard up the pitch in chasing down the Belgium defenders. Then, there’s some ructions as Georgia Stanway and Belgium’s Missipo clash in midfield, the latter not impressed with the challenge.
27 min: Toone performs a lovely flick that leads to a corner but does look to take a knock. From that corner, Millie Bright heads over.
24 min: England have slowed up a little but Ella Toone continues to try and pull the strings in midfield. Credit the Belgians, who are closing off some of the spaces that were so aching in the first ten minutes. Sarina Wiegman isn’t wholly impressed by what she’s seen so far and is off out of her dugout.
21 min: A Belgian attack…but an offside.
19 min: James fires in a shot, and Evrard the Belgian goalie makes a save but is already in danger of being overworked.
18 min: Russo, who’s actually been quiet, has a chance from Alex Greenwood’s overlap and cross. But it’s blocked.
15 min: There’s a brief lull when the ball is actually in the England half, but only for a throw-in.
13 min: The only surprise is that England hadn’t scored by then.
Goal! England 1-0 Belgium (Kelly, 12)
The goal comes, and comes from the player who has been dominating the match. Stanway plays in James, who storms to the byline, crosses and just as it looks Biesmans has scored an own-goal, Kelly takes the last touch.
10 min: Kelly cuts in and has two chances to shoot, and Belgium can only clear hurriedly. They’re yet to get out of their own box.
8 min: Yep, Walsh’s radar soon back in gear, and she plays it out to Kelly, who lays the ball across and James hits wide when scoring looked the most likely outcome. A goal is imminent, surely.
7 min: Walsh attempts a pass through the centre of the Belgian defence but that’s just off target. The Barcelona player’s radar off, though almost certainly temporarily.
5 min: Belgium look shellshocked, though they are up against the best team in Europe, one that might be stronger than the team that won the Euros.
3 min: All England, with Chloe Kelly stepping forward on the left wing and causing all sorts of problems for the Belgians.
2 min: England begin with vigour as Lauren James speeds on, and sets up Georgia Stanway to hit wide.
1 min: A nice dance remix of Kiss’s I Was Made For Loving You, Baby is pumping out just ahead of the players taking the knee. Written by Desmond Child, who also co-wrote the two Bon Jovi songs you know and also Livin’ La Vida Loca. I’d say Des is doing OK for cash.
Meanwhile, in Bristol, the anthems are done, and kick-off is close.
World Cup 2023 news via the BBC: “England’s last Group D opponents were decided earlier today when Haiti beat Chile in a play-off to qualify for their first every tournament.
“Midfielder Melchie Dumornay, who will join Lyon from Reims in the summer, opened the scoring with a powerful strike just before half-time. Captain Nerilia Mondesir missed an 89th-minute penalty but Dumornay doubled Haiti’s lead in the eighth minute of added time. Maria Rojas pulled one back for Chile but it was ultimately too little too late.”
England will play Haiti first, then Denmark then China in Group D, kicking off on 22 July.
Sarina Wiegman has been speaking to ITV:
I think Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo are both very good so they are competing for the position. Of course we all know Alessia is an incredibly talented player so we wanted to see that today. The competition in the team is very high and that is good for us.
We don’t have to know our best eleven yet. We want to try out a couple of things this week, see lots of players and see their connection and manage loads. Of course we are going to play to win this game but we don’t have to decide the starting line-up for July yet.
You can tell Lauren James is in good form and enjoying herself. She is a very talented player and has been for years. Now she is fit she gets some consistency at Chelsea and that does her good and does us good as well.
Of course we want to retain this cup and that is how we approach this and every game, to win it. Of course when there is a cup to win we want to win it.
One such comment: “England women’s no 9 vacancy? Really? Ought surely to be Alessia Russo’s, who improved the team in every game in the Euros when she came on as a sub for Ellen White.|
That’s a strong selection by Sarina Wiegman with the headline news being Alessia Russo in at No 9, and Rachel Daly not starting at striker or left-back. Does that signify Wiegman sees Russo as the heiress to Ellen White? Very possibly, and Russo has a lot of advocates. Suggesting that Daly had a chance of being the Lionesses’ striker at the World Cup saw a response I wasn’t quite expecting when I covered Sunday’s game.
The teams are in
England’s starting XI: Earps; Bronze, Williamson, Bright, Greenwood; Stanway, Walsh; James, Toone, Kelly; Russo.
Belgium’s starting XI: Evrard, Cayman, De Caigny, Biesmans, VangHeluwe, Vanhaevermaet, Missipo, Detruyer, Wijnants, Wullaert, Janssens.
Preamble
The simple maths are that England need only a draw to win the Arnold Clark though the tournament has been played with far broader horizons in mind. After an experimental team beat Italy 2-1, with Rachel Daly heading in both goals, we are told to expect more experimentation in Bristol. Australia and New Zealand this summer – their winter – is where it’s all headed and what Sarina Wiegman has discovered this season is that she can call on a rich vein of talent and she has one hell of a job in selecting 23 players.
Belgium are the opponents. The most recent meeting was in an international friendly in May 2022 ahead of the Euros and the Lionesses won 3-0, and have never lost to tonight’s visitors in four meetings. Rachel Daly was on the scoresheet that night, too.
Kick-of is 7.45pm, join me.
English (US)