FOOTBALL – France forwards Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored first-half goals as they beat reigning champions England 2-1 in their Women’s Euro Group D opener yesterday, handing Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman her first defeat at the finals of the competition.
After championship-winning runs with Netherlands in 2017 and England in 2022, Wiegman came into the game unbeaten in 12 games at the Euro finals, but the beginning of the end of that run came when Katoto scored from close range in the 36th minute.
Her goal was the result of a brilliantly simple counter-attack, with Elisa De Almeida winning the ball and sending it down the line for Delphine Cascarino to chase and she squared it perfectly for Katoto to score with a simple finish.
The second goal three minutes later was a virtuoso solo performance from Sandy Baltimore, who dribbled and jinked and almost lost the ball before firing it high over Hampton into the net from a tight angle.
An uncharacteristically rudderless England did not register a shot on target until Keira Walsh reduced the deficit with a strike from distance in the 87th minute, prompting a late charge from the Lionesses.
Alessia Russo and Grace Clinton both went close and 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang had a goal-bound effort blocked by Selma Bacha, who threw herself at everything to protect the French goal in the closing minutes as her side hung on to win.
Meanwhile, Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal to send the Netherlands on their way to a 3-0 win over Wales in their Group D opener at the Women’s European Championship at the Allmend Stadion in Lucerne.
Wales came into their debut match at a major tournament as underdogs against the 2017 champions and, after frustrating the Dutch for long periods of the opening half, Miedema’s milestone strike before the break ended the Welsh resistance.
The Welsh were pinned back in their own half for long stretches, often making things difficult for themselves with some wayward passing but also regularly putting their bodies on the line in the box to block the constant Dutch danger.
Jill Roord hit two powerful efforts in the first half, one saved by Wales keeper Olivia Clark, the other thundering back off the upright, while the Welsh intent was underlined by Lily Woodham picking up a booking inside 25 minutes for time-wasting.
Wales looked like hanging on until the interval but, deep into added time, Miedema struck a curling shot from outside the area which sailed into the far top corner, a goal worthy of the captain’s milestone in her 126th international appearance.
The Dutch doubled their lead less than three minutes after the break, with Danielle van de Donk laying a pass back to Victoria Pelova in the box who blasted a shot through the legs of defender Gemma Evans and beyond the keeper. The Netherlands found the net again in the 57th minute.
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