England begin Women’s Euro title defence with defeat to France | OneFootball

England began their Women’s European Championship defence with a 2-1 loss to France at Stadion Letzigrund on Saturday evening.The Lionesses headed into the game in high spirits after thrashing Jamaica in a friendly game last week.They started the clash on the front foot and almost opened the scoring in the 15th minute.Chelsea’s Lauren James beat her markers incredibly before laying the ball to Beth Mead, who passed it to Lauren Hemp. Hemp’s shot was initially saved before Alessia Russo thumped it home, but the goal was ruled out for offside.France nearly opened the scoring before the half-hour mark. Alice Sombath played the ball over the top, allowing Sakina Karchaoui to lob it over goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, but the ball landed into the side netting.They eventually opened the scoring in the 36th minute, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto tapping the ball into the net.Three minutes later, the French doubled their lead as Sandy Baltimore capitalized on England’s poor defending to place her effort into the top corner. The goal was subjected to a VAR check due to a possible foul on Russo in the build-up but it was allowed to stand.The defending champions headed into the break with their egos bruised, yet they looked sluggish after the restart.Four minutes before the hour mark, the French almost got their third of the evening as Mead gave the ball away, allowing Grace Geyoro to be set one-on-one with Hampton, but she fumbled her effort.Keira Walsh gave England a glimmer of hope three minutes before fulltime by scoring. She steered a fantastic effort into the top corner to score her second-ever international goal.England have now become the first defending champions to lose their opening game in the Women’s Euros.They play the Netherlands in their second fixture on Wednesday evening.