England hit Norway for six after just 45 minutes on Monday evening, with the Lionesses turning on the style in the first half of their second Euro 2022 group stage match. Sarina Wiegman’s side needed to secure a much-needed victory over Norway to book their place in the quarter-finals of this year’s tournament with a game to spare.
England certainly got off to a strong start, with Georgia Stanway opening the scoring after just 12 minutes with a well-struck penalty that arrowed into the top corner of the net. Lauren Hemp doubled England’s advantage just moments later, bundling the ball home from close range while being played onside by Norway’s defenders.
The Euro 2022 hosts could have been forgiven for easing off the gas after establishing a quick-fire two-goal lead, but they responded by pushing forward with greater urgency in order to further rattle their opponents by snatching a third. England did just that on the half-hour mark, with Ellen White nicking the ball away from Maria Thorisdottir before finishing one-on-one to spark wild celebrations in the stands at the Amex Stadium.
Beth Mead went on to add England’s fourth of the evening on 35 minutes before getting on target once again by weaving past a series of weak tackles and slotting the ball home with ease. White then completed the first-half rout with her second goal of the game as half-time approached, diverting Fran Kirby’s drilled cross into the back of the net.
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The opening 45 minutes marked arguably England’s best performance in recent memory, with the Lionesses taking the game by the scruff of the neck and making Norway pay for every single defensive miscalculation, of which there were more than a few. Ian Wright enthused over England’s first-half performance in his role as a pundit for BBC Sport when asked to sum up what had just happened after the half-time whistle.
“Like I say with England, take your chances and you’ll build into the game,” he said. “We’ve got such good players. That’s never a penalty for me [for Stanway’s goal] but we needed to score early so we could really force the issue on them.
“They [Norway] have not had a chance. Our closing down, everything’s been magnificent.”
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Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall went on to single out Mead for her efforts down the right-hand side of the pitch but also expressed his confusion about Norway’s reluctance to switch things up in spite of the ever-growing scoreline.
“I’m astonished that Norway didn’t change anything,” he added. “England played them to pieces and the coach looked paralysed.
“Don’t take anything away from Beth Mead. It’s the best performance of a wide player at this tournament, and there have been plenty.”
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