Report: England WU23s 1-1 Portugal

England women’s under-23s played out a 1-1 draw against Portugal at Sixfields Stadium in the WU23 European competition.

In their second game of the October campaign, Keira Barry’s well-placed second half equaliser cancelled out Nadia Bravo’s earlier strike.

This fixture was the fourth time these sides have met since April 2023, with England unbeaten in all four meetings.

Freya Godfrey was first to display her quality in the opening two minutes. Her curled cross narrowly missed the head of Isobel Goodwin, but England’s intentions were crystal clear in the early exchanges.

Despite the positive start, Nadia Bravo gave the visitors the lead in the eighth minute with a powerful finish into the top corner.

The Young Lionesses continued to push for an equaliser and Hannah Silcock forced Catarina Porta into a fantastic save to hold onto Portugal’s lead midway through the first half.

Goodwin was often the outlet for England’s attacking prowess and struck the bar ten minutes before the interval as the hosts edged closer to finding the back of the net.

After the restart, England enjoyed various lengthy spells with the ball before breaking through the stubborn Portuguese defence.

That control was eventually rewarded with a fantastic team goal, which included sharp one touch passing, followed by a calm finish from Barry in the 55th minute.

Ten minutes later, a fantastic diving save from Faye Kirby denied a curling effort from Ana Nogueira.

England continued to probe forward and were unlucky not to find the back of the net in the final stages when Olivia McLoughlin’s effort crashed off the underside of the crossbar.

The Young Lionesses will be back in action next month when they face Norway at the Joie Stadium in Manchester before taking on the USA at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium.

England: 1 Faye Kirby (Liverpool), 2 Cerys Brown (London City Lionesses), 3 Mari Ward (Bristol City), 4 Ashanti Akpan (Southampton, on loan from Chelsea), 5 Naomi Layzell (Manchester City), 6 Gracie Prior (Manchester City), 7 Freya Godfrey (London City Lionesses), 8 Lexi Potter (Chelsea), 9 Isobel Goodwin (London City Lionesses), 10 Olivia McLoughlin (Leicester City), 11 Sarah Brasero (West Ham)

Substitutes: 16 Hannah Silcock (Liverpool) for Layzell for 20’, 14 Georgia Mullett (Aston Villa) for Isobel Goodwin, 20 Keira Barry (Sunderland, on loan from Manchester United) for Akpan for 46’, 12 Lenna Gunning-Williams (Tottenham Hotspur) for Godfrey 84’

Substitutes not used: 13 Natalia Negri (Ipswich Town), 22 Katie Cox (Aberdeen, on loan from Chelsea), 15 Jess Simpson (Southampton, on loan from Manchester United), 17 Mia Enderby (Liverpool), 18 Lexi Lloyd-Smith (Bristol City), 19 Laila Harbert (Portland Thorns, on loan from Arsenal)

Head coach: Emma Coates

Goals: Barry 55’