A brace in Belfast for Stanway and Sarina happy with 'mature' win

England's Georgia Stanway helped fire her team one step closer to next year's World Cup Finals in Australia and New Zealand, by bagging a brace in Belfast during a 5-0 victory over Northern Ireland.

The midfielder helped herself to two goals in the second half to put extra gloss on England's performance at a packed Windsor Park, after her Manchester City teammate Lauren Hemp had already scored a double of her own and Ella Toone had made it 3-0.

And the result means Sarina Wiegman's squad only need one more point to secure their place in the World Cup when the qualifying campaign resumes in September following this summer's EURO 2022 extravaganza on home soil.

 

“I really enjoyed it," admitted Stanway. "I think the atmosphere was unbelievable, credit to everyone that turned out today.  

 

“We were happy to put out that performance and play how we did and obviously get that result at the end, so credit where credit is due, they’re a very, very tough side, the fans made it a hostile environment but we thrive from it. 

 

“I think the biggest thing was patience, we obviously had a lot of possession but it was just about creating those moments and being clinical in those moments, which is obviously what we did in the second half.  

 

“It’s about just building from here. We’ve got a big year ahead and we’re just going to take it one step at a time. 

 

“As you can see everybody is in top form and everybody is at a high level. If we can create an environment that’s so, so competitive and we drive each other then nothing can stop us.” 

And head coach Wiegman was equally happy with the way England performed on the night in their second away game of the month after last week's 10-0 win over North Macedonia. 

 

“We played maturely, we kept the ball going," said Wiegman.

 

“In the first half, we wanted to be a little more clinical because we created lots of chances but only scored one. 

 

“But we kept moving, they got a little tired, and a 5-0 score is just really good, and again we conceded none. 

 

“We thought we played well in the first half and they had to run so much that we could expect they would be a little more tired and that we’d have a little more space. 

 

“So I think that was mainly what happened – we just kept on going. At the end we both substituted a lot so the speed of the game dropped a little bit, but when you’re 5-0 up it’s okay.”

The Lionesses will next be in action again when they face two home games against Belgium in Wolverhampton on Thursday 16 June and then the Netherlands in Leeds on Friday 24 June, in what will be their final preparation games for EURO 2022. Tickets for both games are on sale now.