Published 22 September 2023 3 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Sarina Wiegman assesses England's win over Scotland
The Lionesses head coach saw her side pick up three points in their inaugural UEFA Nations League campaign
REPORT: ENGLAND v SCOTLAND
England head coach Sarina Wiegman had mixed feelings following her team’s 2-1 victory over Scotland.
The Lionesses edged a thrilling first half after a pair of bullet headers from Lucy Bronze and Lauren Hemp had put them two goals up.
Scotland had already created openings prior to that and reduced the lead in first-half stoppage time through Kirsty Hanson.
But with no further goals in the second half, despite Lauren James’ late header being ruled out for offside, Wiegman’s team collected their first win of the new UEFA Women’s Nations League.
“I am very happy with the three points,” said Wiegman.
“The performance, at moments I was happy, but at other moments I wasn’t as we were struggling a little.
“In the first half we dominated but in the second half, we had problems keeping the ball and made decisions which made life hard for ourselves. We didn’t get in the moment, we kept trying to solve problems all the time.”
The Lionesses edged a thrilling first half after a pair of bullet headers from Lucy Bronze and Lauren Hemp had put them two goals up.
Scotland had already created openings prior to that and reduced the lead in first-half stoppage time through Kirsty Hanson.
But with no further goals in the second half, despite Lauren James’ late header being ruled out for offside, Wiegman’s team collected their first win of the new UEFA Women’s Nations League.
“I am very happy with the three points,” said Wiegman.
It's so good to be back ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3ceerKhmyh
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) September 22, 2023
“The performance, at moments I was happy, but at other moments I wasn’t as we were struggling a little.
“In the first half we dominated but in the second half, we had problems keeping the ball and made decisions which made life hard for ourselves. We didn’t get in the moment, we kept trying to solve problems all the time.”
One thing that did please Wiegman in particular were the two goals, with Bronze revealing her header was a move originally rehearsed during the summer’s World Cup training sessions in Australia.
“Both goals were really good,” she added.
“We worked on that in the World Cup and it was a perfect pass, perfect timing, perfect header, it’s really nice when you score a goal like that.
“But then we let them back in – it would have been easier to go into half time at 2-0, which is what the score should have been.”
England will now head to Wiegman’s homeland of the Netherlands for their second group game against her former side.
And she says the new competition is proving a valuable exercise for the Lionesses, with another high-end team in Belgium completing the group.
“I think it’s really good, you want competitive games and that’s what we have now,” she explained.
“You don’t know the score ahead of the game and it is different to World Cup qualifying, which sometimes is not too competitive as the difference can be so big.”
The game with the Netherlands takes place in Utrecht on Tuesday 26 September 2023 (7pm BST).
“Both goals were really good,” she added.
“We worked on that in the World Cup and it was a perfect pass, perfect timing, perfect header, it’s really nice when you score a goal like that.
“But then we let them back in – it would have been easier to go into half time at 2-0, which is what the score should have been.”
England will now head to Wiegman’s homeland of the Netherlands for their second group game against her former side.
And she says the new competition is proving a valuable exercise for the Lionesses, with another high-end team in Belgium completing the group.
“I think it’s really good, you want competitive games and that’s what we have now,” she explained.
“You don’t know the score ahead of the game and it is different to World Cup qualifying, which sometimes is not too competitive as the difference can be so big.”
The game with the Netherlands takes place in Utrecht on Tuesday 26 September 2023 (7pm BST).