🦁 Holders England beat South Korea to kickstart Arnold Clark Cup campaign | OneFootball

Hosts England beat South Korea 4-0 on Thursday to kick off their Arnold Clark Cup title defence.

Scorers: Stanway 40′ (P), Kelly 46′, Russo 50′, James 78′

It was one-way traffic in Milton Keynes as Sarina Wiegman’s England put South Korea to the sword thanks to a rejuventated second half performance.

The reigning champions dominated roughly 80% possession of the ball with the likes of Lauren James, Ella Toone and Alessia Russo eager to drive England’s attack.

However, South Korea remained a formidable side to prevent the Lionesses from scoring during the opening 45 minutes. In contrast, their attack could not create enough at the opposite end to test goalkeeper Mary Earps.

The deadlock subsequently broke thanks to a bit of luck just before the break. After a strike from Russo hit off the post, James was hauled down in the box and England were awarded a penalty.

Georgia Stanway then stepped up and thumped the ball beyond goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi for 1-0.

Coming out after the break, whatever Wiegman said at half-time truly inspired the Lionessess and they came out firing.

Euro 2022 hero Chloe Kelly doubled the lead and if you blinked, you probably missed the goal. It only took 16 seconds for the ball to float into the net from outside the box.

Then Russo joined in on the action minutes later as she redirected a third beyond Jung-mi.

The remainder of the match continued to be in favour of the holders, with South Korea shell shocked and out of ideas. Brighton duo Lee Geum-Min and Park Ye-Eun struggled to create anything in midfield.

To wrap up an entertaining performance, James scored her first ever international goal – which was thoroughly deserved given the Chelsea star’s sublime form as of late.

Looking ahead, England face Italy and Belgium face South Korea. Both games take place on 19 February.

Earlier in the day

Elsewhere in England, Belgium captain Tessa Wullaert dribbled multiple defenders and scored a 90th-minute winner to edge Italy 2-1.