Germany beat England to avenge Euros final defeat in seven-goal thriller at Wembley | OneFootball

Germany beat England 4-3 to avenge their Euros final defeat they had suffered at the hands of Sarina Wiegman’s side at Wembley two years ago.

Sloppy defending from England allowed Germany to go three up within half an hour, before two goals in three minutes from Georgia Stanway gave the Lionesses hope of a comeback.

A controversial 72nd-minute penalty gave Germany another, before Lucy Bronze scored the seventh of the night, which ultimately was not enough to complete a comeback for England.

It was the worst possible start for England as Leah Williamson under hit a back pass to Millie Bright, putting Linda Dallmann through on goal, and giving the Chelsea captain no option but to bring down the German in the box.

Giulia Gwinn slotted home the penalty to give the away side the lead within three minutes, and just eight minutes later, Gwinn doubled the Germans’ lead, after another defensive error left England open at the back.

Klara Buhl made it three inside half an hour for the visitors, as she found space down the left wing to cut inside on her right foot and beat Hannah Hampton at the near post with a superb finish.

Just as it looked as if the game was out of reach for the Lionesses, a VAR intervention deemed that Lauren Hemp’s cross had struck Gwinn’s hand in the box, granting England a 33rd-minute penalty, which Stanway finished beautifully.

The Bayern Munich midfielder found the net again just three minutes later as Alessia Russo played a beautiful ball out wide to Beth Mead, who played in Stanway who found a clinical finish to get her team within one.

The second half saw two more goals added to the scoreline, as another Germany penalty was put away by Sara Dabritz, before Bronze scored England’s third in the 81st minute, but the Lionesses were left unable to find an equaliser.

Here’s five things we learned from the match…

Sweet revenge for Germany

Just over two years after England won the Euros in front of a sold-out Wembley, 47,967 fans came out on a much wetter and colder night to watch the rematch. While it was billed as a friendly, there were no friends on the pitch as these teams battled hard from the off in this seven-goal thriller. Despite England’s best efforts of a comeback, Germany came out on top and they will be delighted to have turned the misfortunes from their last meeting around.

Sloppy England defending

England’s back line left much to be desired, as they went down 3-0 within 29 minutes. Williamson’s sloppy backpass in the second minute set the tone, and as Bright took down the German attacker, she landed herself a yellow card with most of the match still to play. Alex Greenwood came on for the England skipper in the second half, which tightened things up, but defence is an area England will need to work on if they want to retain their title next summer.

Spot the difference

Wiegman’s starting line-up tonight included nine players who featured in the Euros final 27 months ago at Wembley – just goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and Jess Carter in defence played no part in that historic match. The England boss continues to show loyalty to her Euros squad, and it will be interesting to see how this continues in the build up to next summer.

Stanway strikes again

England fans will remember Georgia Stanway’s wonder strike in the Lionesses’ quarter-final victory over Spain at the Euros, and today she showed once again why she is so crucial to this England team. As well as slotting home a penalty under pressure and finding a brilliant finish for England’s second goal, it is clear to see how much her game in midfield has developed since moving to Bayern Munich two years ago.

Steph Houghton honoured

Former England captain Steph Houghton MBE was honoured ahead of kick-off at Wembley in a retirement ceremony. Houghton won 121 caps over 14 years for the Lionesses, and featured in three World Cups in 2011, 2015 and 2019 and at the EURO Finals in 2013 and 2017. The crowd showed her the appreciation she deserved for a remarkable career.