So, England were ultimately far superior – just faster, stronger, quicker, technically better and of course far more clinical. Nobody had really expected any other outcome but Scotland will feel disappointed with the two late goals, which may well have made any hope of qualifying from the group much harder, and will also reflect that they had started the first half well before being carved open a mite too easily.
But England were convincing. They controlled the game well, on the whole, and certainly took their chances. Taylor is a proper, goalpoaching striker and Duggan looks a sharp deputy; Kirby has wonderful ability on the ball and kept finding pockets nobody else could; White worked intelligently, with a goal and assist, while Nobbs, for my money, is as good a midfielder as any when she plays like this. Sampson will be very pleased with what he saw there – but also well aware that there are much tougher tasks ahead.
Spain will certainly be a bigger challenge. They’re up next on Sunday, while Scotland play Portugal. Huge games for both home nations – so join us again then. And thanks for joining me this evening!
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Full-time: England 6-0 Scotland
England make the statement they had hoped for.
Goal! England 6-0 Scotland (Duggan 90+4 min)
With the game’s last touch, Houghton wins a header from a corner and Duggan, showing instincts that should go down well in Catalonia, flicks it past Fay!
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90+2 min: Now Weir has a what-the-heck from 35 yards but Bardsley takes it. You wouldn’t begrudge Scotland a goal here but I don’t think it’s going to happen.
90 min: Crichton so nearly gets in for a consolation but Houghton, committed to the last, takes it off her toes.
Goal! England 5-0 Scotland (Nobbs 87)
Nobbs gets her goal! Carney’s cross is cleared by a lunging Dieke and Nobbs, with some stupendous technique as the high ball drops towards her boot, laces in a fine volley from the edge of the area. She’s deserved this.
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87 min: A few strains of “Flower of Scotland” coming from one of the stands. I wouldn’t say “defiantly”, but quite tunefully.
85 min: Nobbs signals to Duggan to leave the ball – and has her latest crack at goal. It’s well wide. But her energy is unstinting; she’s some player.
84 min: Weir is booked for a foul on the marauding Scott.
83 min: Carney’s appearance, by the way, means she has appeared in seven consecutive tournaments – the first England footballer to do so. It’s her 130th cap. What a legend – a bona fide one – she has been.
82 min: Could have been less respectable there, though, as an England free-kick isn’t cleared and Bright, stealing in round the back, fizzes a low cross-shot through Fay’s legs but agonisingly across goal.
81 min: Into the last 10 minutes now. In a funny way neither side will be unhappy with the second half. England have added one and done nothing daft; Scotland have kept it respectable and had a couple of nice moments going forward themselves.
79 min: England play Spain next; Scotland face Portugal. Something will have to give, as it’s the two matchday one winners facing off in one, and the two losing sides doing battle in the other. Unless something utterly remarkable happens in the next 12 minutes or so.
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76 min: And now a third Scotland change – Jo Love on for Corsie.
75 min: A Scotland corner is, not for the first or second or even third time, punched away by Bardsley. She’s been pleasingly authoritative in there; the deliveries have often been decent and there has been pressure.
74 min: The experienced Karen Carney now comes on for White. That’s all three changes made by Sampson now.
73 min: Nobbs, who has been perhaps England’s best player, slips Bronze in now with a lovely ball but Cuthbert slides in well to thwart her.
71 min: I say that, but Duggan should score there. Bronze plays her in neatly and the striker, probably taking an unnecessary touch, gives Fay a little bit too much time to rush out. The goalkeeper gets something on her effort and it goes for a corner, from which Bright loops a header wide.
70 min: Houghton draws gasps of appreciation with an ice-cool piece of work in taking the ball past Clelland. Scotland are still giving this a go though and certainly have a bit more running in attack through the two replacements. England look like a team that have done their attacking work.
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68 min: It won’t make Scotland fans very happy that Ross, who of course left us a few minutes ago, just walked down the touchline clutching the shoulder that she hurt earlier.
66 min: Close from Clelland! She powers past Bright down the right flank, gets to the line, cuts in and fires one just into the side netting – but if she’d squared to Cuthbert the birthday girl would probably have had a goal with her first touch!
65 min: Kirby, so bright in the first half, now gets a rest and on comes Nikita Parris. The dummy from Kirby that helped Taylor open the scoring was sublime.
63 min: It’ll be a memorable birthday for Erin Cuthbert, the promising Chelsea player, who has turned 19 today and replaces Ross now.
62 min: Jill Scott is booked now, for some unnecessary scrapping away in the centre circle – in the form of a late tackle on Weir.
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59 min: Off goes Taylor to a standing ovation; Toni Duggan, newly of Barcelona of course, replaces her. Sampson wisely conserves his hat-trick hero’s energy.
57 min: It’s delivered really dangerously, and at pace, by Evans but Bardsley punches well under pressure. Eventually the ball is worked back to Evans, who hits a decent low shot. The England ‘keeper is behind it though.
55 min: Yellow card for Houghton, though, after a foul on Ross. The Scotland player has hurt her shoulder and is down; think she’ll be OK, so play will eventually resume with a dangerous free-kick on the left ...
55 min: That summed up the gulf in class between these two teams really. England hadn’t really come to the party since half-time, but when they could turn it up they did.
Goal! England 4-0 Scotland (Taylor 53, hat-trick)
It’s three for Taylor and four for England! White flicks on perfectly and Taylor, running off the shoulder of Dieke, is bearing down on goal again. The finish is brilliant: a perfectly-weighted lob over Fay that drops into the net. Taylor is England’s first hat-trick scorer at a major tournament!
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51 min: Scotland have come out spikily here, to give them credit. They look a step quicker than they did in the last 20 minutes of that first half.
50 min: Clelland makes a strong run past Houghton, who recovers to concede a corner. Good, direct stuff from the sub. Evans’ corner is cleared by Bright out to Ross, whose effort pings off Nobbs for another flag kick. The second one is punched by Bardsley but again only as far as Ross ... who is leaning back and jabs over from 16 yards.
47 min: Scotland get an early chance to put a free-kick in the box, albeit from deep. It doesn’t come to much. The substitute, Clelland, seems to have gone up top while Ross has pulled out to the left.
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Peeeeeeeep! Second half underway
Clelland replaces Brown for Scotland. Will that make a difference? We’ll know soon, as England have kicked us back off.
As for England, do they go hell for leather and try to get a few more goals? Or do they taper down, keep it safe and save themselves for the bigger tests that will surely come?
Kari Tulinius is having an uncomfortable evening: “As someone who’s from Iceland, a country with a famously bad record against Denmark, its former colonial overlord, watching Scotland get thumped by England is making me break out in cold sweats. If any Scots are reading, I know how you feel. Though I feel I should mention that the Icelandic women’s national team have beaten the Danes twice, which is twice more than their male counterparts have achieved in twenty something attempts across seven decades.”
Hey, decent showing against France last night too – Iceland deserved something out of that.
Half-time: England 3-0 Scotland
England can in fact play better than this but they’ve taken their chances and, certainly since the second goal, really managed to deflate their opponents. Scotland, who had started brightly, now need to keep this respectable because, as long as they don’t take a complete hiding, it probably won’t be this game that decides their Euro 2017 fate.
43 min: Scotland win a free-kick 15 yards inside the England half after Crichton is fouled. A chance to pile on some late pressure? Weir delivers, but Bright is up well to nod away on the edge of the box. Taylor breaks straightaway for England and tries an implausible shot from wide on the right, but gets it all wrong. It doesn’t really matter, she’s already done the bulk of her job tonight.
41 min: Nobbs has another go from a long way out, but Fay can catch that easily.
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40 min: Feels like we’re drifting towards half time now, although England are capable of ratcheting up the pace from near-nothing. They’re just stroking the ball around at will right now.
38 min: White tries to divert a Bronze cross towards goal but can’t get enough on her flick.
36 min: Scotland do win a corner down the right, now, and it causes some mild consternation before England get it away. I think a better opponent would quite like a go at this England defence on the evidence of this, but Scotland aren’t really up to it.
35 min: Kevin McKee writes – “To be honest, I think Scotland lost the match as soon as they put on that disgusting pink strip. The team looks like a collection of raspberry Magnums waiting to be eaten. Only slightly preferable to the primrose yellow and rose pink of the men’s team from 1881.”
Goal! England 3-0 Scotland (White 32)
That’ll be that. Scott receives the ball midway inside the Scotland half, advances a little and decides she fancies a dig. And dig she does – thudding a superb effort against the bar. It pings down and White, reacting quicker than two Scotland defenders, is straight in there to slide home the rebound. Damage limitation for the Scots now. They need to keep their discipline.
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31 min: Bronze, who gets forward so well, makes a clever darting run into the box and Taylor attempts an equally astute ball towards her from the left – but overcooks it a touch.
30 min: Ross has another pop from range but it’s far over. She’s not afraid to shoot on sight, but she’ll need to get one on target again before long.
29 min: Long, long way back for Scotland now I think. England have been clinical. Two chances, two goals. The ingenuity of Kirby has been behind both.
Goal! England 2-0 Scotland (Taylor 26)
... Taylor scores her second! It comes after Scotland can’t clear the free-kick and Bronze steers an effort towards goal; it’s cleared off the line, it bobbles around a bit more, and then Taylor shows her striker’s instincts by firing into the corner from six yards.
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26 min: Kirby leaves Corsie for dead with a wonderful turn and is fouled. England have a free-kick out on the left, about 15 yards from the byline. Nobbs delivers and ...
24 min: Scotland have, it must be said, steadied the ship although there’s not a lot from them on the ball. I’m not sure they will mind. Keep it like this til half-time, perhaps pressure the slightly nervous-looking Bright when possible, and make England sweat as the game goes on.
@NickAmes82 Does anyone know why Jill Scott's Wikipedia page shows her in an Arsenal shirt when she doesn't seem to have played for them?
— Justin Horton (@ejhchess) July 19, 2017
I think she was playing in a celebration match for Kelly Smith earlier this year.
21 min: Ross chases a long ball after England give the ball away, and forces a hurried clearance from Bright. She’s a willing runner but will probably need slightly less speculative service.
20 min: Bit of a lull now. The tempo has been brisk so far, but it’s a warm summer’s night so there will be periods like this.
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17 min: Weir frees up space with a delightful turn and finds Brown down the left. She wins Scotland a corner, which Houghton attacks and misses. England eventually clear uncomfortably and play is briefly halted after Houghton feels the effects of her fall.
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16 min: Kirby is popping up everywhere and Scotland are finding her positioning very difficult. They don’t really have someone like that who can cause chaos between the lines, although Little might have done if fit.
14 min: What do Scotland do now? They’d started well. If they go too gung-ho they will be picked off. I’d keep things for same for now if I were Signeul – who is of course an international manager while I sit and fire off hot takes from my keyboard.
13 min: Barsley has to prevent Kirby from getting a shot away now, and Scotland need to keep their heads. England get another flag kick from it but Scott’s header is well off target.
Goal! England 1-0 Scotland (Taylor 10)
Well, that will do for control. Kirby looks poised to receive a slide-rule through ball from the back, but dummies it wonderfully and takes out two defenders in the process. It leaves Taylor, the striker, to stride through and she never looks like missing. The finish is low and calm, and England’s nerves will have been settled.
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10 min: Early days here, but it’s been pretty open. England have shown moments of incisive passing in midfield, and have got Kirby well involved, but Sampson will probably want a little more control than this.
7 min: Now Scotland break and Evans puts in a dangerous cross from the right that Bright has to clear on the stretch. Another Scotland corner, but it’s glanced away at the far post. Scotland showing enough to suggest they pose a threat.
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6 min: Kirby looks very lively and again combines with Nobbs, who thinks about a long shot but eventually thinks better and keeps the move going. Eventually, and haphazardly after a miscue from Taylor, the ball ends up with Nobbs again but her 18-yard drive is straight at Fay.
4 min: As this settles down I think England will have most of the territory. They’ve pushed on after that early close shave from Ross, and are dominating possession.
2 min: Then Kirby does very well down the left and lays back to Nobbs, who thrashes one towards goal and it’s deflected over. England corner, now, and Nobbs inswings it. Houghton attacks the ball but heads it over. Cracking start here!
1 min: And Scotland start very well! Bardsley is forced to tip over a 30-yard sighter from Ross within 20 seconds – and then has to punch the subsequent corner away!
Peeeeeeeeeep! We're underway
Scotland, in their traditional pink, kick us off.
@NickAmes82 Delighted there is both broadcast TV & MBM coverage of England v. Scotland. Women's football has long deserved this recognition.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) July 19, 2017
Yes, the game is on both C4 and Eurosport. By all means make this your Second Screen Experience.
Scotland win the anthem game there, vocals-wise. That’s as good as being 1-0 up, right? But then they have an infinitely better anthem.
The teams are walking out! The stadium is far from full but the atmosphere is lively and both nations have taken a decent contingent.
England have plenty of attacking talent out there tonight, of course. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing 90 minutes (or so) of Fran Kirby, who has had her injury problems but is a tremendously exciting talent – one of the most naturally gifted to come out of the country. The Chelsea forward was out for almost a year but Sampson kept faith in her for this tournament and she starts in Utrecht ...
Anna Signeul: “We have been waiting a long time, the camp is full of excitement. It’s just important to believe in what we’re doing, and have been doing, and that they also go out and enjoy it. Try to do what you did at home, that’s what brought you here.”
Also, what do you think of the tournament so far? I’ll admit I have not seen every single kick, but in general it seems to have been pretty uninhibited with teams willing to have a proper go at each other. Just need the goals to follow – but there’s a pleasing evenness to it all ...
Get your emails in to nick.ames.casual@theguardian.com – or tweet @NickAmes82. I’m here. And I’m particularly interested in any thoughts on how Scotland might threaten beyond the goals of Ross.
Great pre-match reading for you here – on Rose Reilly, who won the World Cup for Scotland ... as Italy captain:
The teams
England: Bardsley; Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Stokes; J Scott, Moore; Nobbs, Kirby, White; Taylor. Subs: Chamberlain, Telford, Potter, Christiansen, Williams, Carney, Bassett, Parris, Duggan, Greenwood, A Scott.
Scotland: Fay; Brown, Dieke, Barsley, Arthur; Corsie; Evans, Crichton, Weir, Brown; J Ross. Subs: Lynn, Alexander, Murray, LRoss, Love, Lauder, Cuthbert, Howard, Murray, McLaughlan, Clelland, Smith.
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The other two teams in Group D have just completed their opener – it was another big derby between Spain and Portugal, and Spain took it 2-0 with a pair of first-half strikes! Vicky Losada and Amanda Sampredo were on target.
Hello!
Is this the year England win a major senior tournament? Is this the year Scotland win a major senior tournament? We might have a better idea in two or three hours’ time; as openers for these sides go it couldn’t get any spicier and, while England are clear favourites against the debutants, there is something about this rivalry that makes for a great leveller – as the men’s sides showed us in Glasgow last month.
So buckle up. It’s been a fascinating start to Euro 2017, inasmuch as we seem to be in for a fairly well-balanced tournament with the minnows competing admirably. What we could do with now, on day four, is a rattling good ding-dong of a fixture that really gets those with a passing interest talking. England seem minded to provide one and have even gone as far as watching clips of Braveheart to get into their opponents’ psyche; Scotland, in their first major tournament since the non-UEFA affiliated European Competition for Women’s Football in 1989, need no motivation at all to give this one a go and they have the tools to cause some genuine bother.
Chief among those tools is Jane Ross, the Manchester City striker. It is a shame that the excellent Arsenal playmaker Kim Little is laid low through injury but Anna Signeul’s side has been on solid form in the run-up to this event, with three straight wins, and confidence can count for a lot at this level.
England, meanwhile, are in the unique position of being among the bona fide tournament favourites and they might not have seen too much to scare them yet. Mark Sampson believes they can achieve “something special”, and if they can put on a commanding performance tonight then that impression will be heightened. Think they can do it? Keep your emails and tweets coming, and let’s enjoy this one.
Nick will be here soon. Catch up on the tournament so far with our interactive wallchart, tournament guide and Suzy Wrack’s thoughts on the opening week:
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