Here is Louise Taylor on France’s victory against England. That’s all from me tonight. Thanks for following.
ICYMI earlier - no post-match interviews tonight from England after the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
— Ameé Ruszkai (@ameeruszkai) April 9, 2021
This game was a great showcase of two incredibly exciting players for the future:
France’s Sandy Baltimore, who just tore England apart in the first half with her relentless dribbling, chance creation and finishing. England’s Lauren Hemp. Quite like Baltimore, she tore the France defence apart with her dribbling. Poor captain Marion Torrent was handed a yellow card, conceded a penalty to Hemp in their short time on the pitch together.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Kadidiatou Diani and Viviane Asseyi were all also dominant for France.
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FULL TIME: France 3-1 England
That’s all. Despite being shorthanded due to Covid, France pull off a convincing win. Great game, with both teams so willing to attack and generating ample chances but the England defence was the weakest link tonight.
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90 min: 4 minutes added time.
86 min: The goal has just knocked the stuffing out of the game here. England are still trying to move forward and push for a second goal but France are remaining disciplined and offering little space.
Goal! France 3-1 England (Katoto, 83)
Incredible work from Diani on the right flank, who fleeced her marker and then landed an excellent cross to Katoto’s feet for an easy tap-in.
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82 min: Lauren Hemp is simply a sensational footballer. A brilliant run down the left and then her cutback found Walsh’s late run into the box, whose finish struck the post. Huge chance.
81 min: England are having a go. Another great attack ends with Hemp providing Nobbs, whose strike was too central. Easy save for Peyraud.
Goal! France 2-1 England (Kirby, 79)
A cool, effortless penalty into the bottom right hand corner by Kirby. Excellent.
78 min: Penalty for England! No surprise to see Lauren Hemp being a nuisance once more and drawing a penalty from Torrent.
76 min: Lauren Hemp is starting to pick up the ball now and run at the France defence, which yields a foul from Marion Torrent. Yellow card for the France captain.
74 min: A couple of substitutions for England. Bethany England is on for Ellen White and Jordan Nobbs replaces Jill Scott, who recorded her 151st cap today.
71 min: Ample possession for England deep in France’s half with Kelly and Kirby seeing plenty of the ball without much end product. The France defence are sitting back a little more now and dealing with all threats.
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65 min: Lauren Hemp is on for Beth Mead.
64 min: A couple of things about the second goal: It was all initiated by another excellent run by Baltimore who set up Katoto strike, leading to the corner. Then Diani’s strike from way outside the box was brilliant, and led to an excellent save from Roebuck. But it was not enough. England may well pay for their inability to convert their chances.
GOAL! France 2-0 England (Asseyi, 63)
No problem all for Viviane Asseyi, who side-footed her penalty to the right, sending Roebuck the wrong way.
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61 min: Penalty. Goodness! After an excellent effort from Katoto led to a corner, Diani’s strike from distance was tipped onto the bar. In the scramble that followed, De Almeida was taken down by Daly.
59 min: Viviane Asseyi also replaced the Valerie Gauvin.
59 min: Ines Jaurena replaces Ella Pallis for France.
57 min: A penalty shout from France after Diani’s shot attempt appeared to strike Mead’s arm from inside the box. But Mead’s arm was by her side and referee Sara Persson was not interested.
56 min: Kirby and Kelly are already combining really nicely as they generate another chance together. This time, Kirby swept to the left flank then picked out Kelly in the box with a great cross. Header over the bar.
54 min: Another good chance for England. This time, Kelly effortlessly picked a cross-field ball from Kirby out of the air, then laid out a great ball to Scott. Unfortunately for Scott, she blazed her finish high and wide.
This is Niamh Charles’s debut and still just the 6th cap for Chloe Kelly.
The feeling of making your #Lionesses debut 😀
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 9, 2021
Make it a special one, @niamhcharles7! pic.twitter.com/yY7mCd5PDh
51 min: After spending some time on the ground, the medics guided a tearful Gauvin off the pitch. Thankfully, she appears to be walking and it looks like she will attempt to continue.
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49 min: Oh dear. France’s Valerie Gauvin just suffered a heavy fall after contesting a header. She is audibly distressed and the issue appears to be her ankle.
47 min: England start the second half as they ended the first - with a huge chance. After a really intelligent, fast break, Kirby found Daly in space and bearig down on goal. She just could not keep her right-footed strike down and it blazed over the bar.
45 min: The second half begins with two England substitutions. Chloe Kelly is on for Nikita Parris and Niamh Charles replaces Alex Greenwood.
The BBC panel of Casey Stoney and Alex Scott pointed out Sandy Baltimore as the outstanding player and they are right. Just a tremendous half of football by her.
Her dribbling, pace and work rate have all been top class and she has been a goal threat both from the left and when switching to the right then cutting in on her left foot. She is just 21 years old.
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Half time: France 1-0 England
A fast, open game with great individual brilliant and questionable defending. England could easily be in the lead or down three goals right now. The second half will clearly be decided by the more clinical team.
45 min + 1: The half ends with one final huge chance as a really nice lofted ball by Walsh landed straight on Parris’s head inside the box. Parris attempted to place her header in the bottom left corner but just sent it wide.
45 min: That should have been 2-0. After a wayward pass from Bright, another brilliant run from Baltimore found Everton Gauvin. At full stretch but from point blank range, Gauvin’s strike flew well over the bar.
44 min: While England have looked extremely dangerous going forward, the defence are seriously under pressure. This time, Diani whipped in another great cross and found Katoto who easily won the header but put no power on it. Easy save.
40 min: Another chance for England! This time, after winning a free kick, Kirby’s shot was deflected into the path of Parris on the right. From an acute angle, Parris nailed the ball at the near post. Another very good save from Peyraud.
37 min: This has been a thrilling game. Extremely open, end to end and with both teams looking to attack and testing their strengths. Nice to see in a friendly.
34 min: Mere seconds after conceding a goal, England generate their biggest chance of the day. Kirby’s right footed finish was saved brilliantly by Peyraud-Magnin. Excellent cross by Parris on the right.
33 min: Kudos to Diani for the excellent run in the build up to the goal, completely tearing past Greenwood on the break before feeding Baltimore, who has been the best player on the pitch, in space. Too good.
GOAL! France 1-0 England (Baltimore, 32)
Moments after an excellent attack from England ended with Ellen White landing the ball into the net before it was disallowed after White was offside, Baltimore scores with an brilliant left footed finish from distance.
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30 min: Of course, Roebuck immediately redeems herself with an excellent save after a brilliant shot from Baltimore. Fingertips.
28 min: This hasn’t been a great game so far for the normally excellent Ellie Roebuck, who just misjudged a free kick, missed the ball and was fortunate that the ball didn’t find a French player.
26 min: Nikita Parris picked up the ball after the corner and her second attempt from distance yielded a second corner. France eventually escaped after Parris was called for offside. After a quiet opening few minutes for Parris, she is now very much present.
23 min: A couple minutes after France’s biggest opportunity, England generate a big chance of their own. A poor clearance from Ella Palis rolled to Nikita Parris, who struck a brilliant lefty strke from distance, which went out for a corner.
21 min: A huge chance for France! After they won a corner on the right, an excellent delivery from Ella Palis caused plenty of trouble. Ellie Roebuck’s missed the ball as she attempted to catch the corner, the ball was headed out to Kadidiatou Diani who just sprayed the ball over the bar.
17 min: First yellow card for England after a poor foul by Mead
17 min: This is an open game and England are not at all shy about moving forward right now. Once again, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead connect on the left but Kirby just took too many touches and lost the ball to goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin.
13 min: Much better from England, who are holding onto the ball and putting more pressure on the French defence. This time Beth Mead picks up the ball and takes a shot from distance. Decent attempt, but too central. An easy save for Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.
9 min: Great work from the England team, with Rachel Daly winning a free kick far up the right flank after a great ball from Nikita Parris. Mead took the free kick but she was eventually called for offside.
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6 min: Another nervous moment for England as Elisa De Almeida’s strikes her free header into the side netting from Baltimore’s corner. Danger averted.
5 min: France are still looking incredibly dangerous as England settle. Once again, they generate chance through Sandy Baltimore, who is so quick on the left. She flitted forward on the break, quickly traded with Valerie Gauvin on her left sand then her finish just struck the side netting. Corner.
2 min An excellent start from France, bombing forward on the left flank with some industrious play from Sandy Baltimore. Her cross brought up a first corner, which was cleared.
1 min: After the a one minute silence and both teams taking the knee, England kick off.
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The players are out on the pitch and singing the anthem extremely loudly. Play underway shortly.
In Hege Riise’s first game against big opposition, some interesting decisions already, particularly with the forward line. Quite a surprise to see both Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp, Manchester City’s in-form wide forwards, start on the bench. Particularly considering Nikita Parris’s late arrival in the squad.
One would guess that Riise is just testing out her options and seeing how things go. It will be interesting to see when either player gets onto the pitch.
Twenty minutes to go.
Début du match dans 30min 👊 #FRAANG #FiersdetreBleues 🇫🇷🏴 pic.twitter.com/ORj7Acr8Ga
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) April 9, 2021
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Checking in at Stade Michel D'Ornano. 👋 pic.twitter.com/Xtgx5aRCcz
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 9, 2021
Lucy Bronze and Demi Stokes haven't travelled to France as managing minor injuries and to maximise their chances of being fit for Canada on Tuesday.
— Rich Laverty (@RichJLaverty) April 9, 2021
Teams:
England XI (4-3-3): Roebuck; Daly, Bright, Williamson, Greenwood; Walsh, Scott, Kirby; Parris, White (c), Mead.
Subs: Charles, Maciver, Turner, Wubben-Moy, Toone, Kelly, Nobbs, England, Stanway, Telford, Bardsley, Hemp, Morgan.
France XI (4-4-2): Peyraud-Magnin; Torrent (c), Tounkara, De Almeida, Morroni; Diani, Geyoro, Palis, Baltimore; Katoto, Gauvin.
Subs: Durand, Picaud, Asseyi, Dali, Deslandes, Fleury, Kazadi, Jaurena, Jean-Francois, Khelifi, Le Sommer, Perisset, Thibaud
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Here is Louise Taylor’s piece from Hege Riise’s press conference:
“I want them to always look for an opportunity to go forward. And, when we do so, to be accurate in our movement and passing.
“France have speed and smartness so it’s a balance for us to manage the game defensively but also be brave enough to attack them. We want to go after France and prove ourselves.”
France coach Corinne Diacre’s press conference was predictably all about the Covid-19 cases in Lyon and those who are missing.
Yes I am disappointed, but that’s how it is, my disappointment will not change anything. We will have to focus on the 26 players summoned. There are talented players, the absent are, but as are those there. It is a young group, in the making, in construction. Since the last game, the young people have brought a little freshness, something nice.
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Preamble
Hello! Welcome to tonight’s football coverage as England take on France in their women’s international friendly at Stade Michel d’Ornano in Caen, France. As the Olympics rounds into view for Team GB, this will mark a first true test for the England team since interim manager Hege Riise took over.
In February, during her first camp with the team, Riise watched as her team registered an easy 6-0 win against Northern Ireland. However, tonight’s meeting with No.3 France is their first with top 10 opponents in over a year.
France will not quite be at their best after a large Covid-19 cluster developed at Lyon with at least 15 cases. Those who tested positive include internationals Sakina Karchaoui and French captain Amandine Henry.
Forward Eugenie Le Sommer, who would have likely started as captain, joined the squad after a week’s isolation. She was permitted to travel after presenting a negative test. Likewise, England’s Nikita Parris, also a star Lyon forward, belatedly joind the England team after she was cleared.
