England 1-1 Brazil (4-2 on penalties): Lionesses player ratings surpass Women’s Final

William of England
By William of England 8 Min Read
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By Jaime Spencer

England beat Brazil 4-2 on penalties to win the inaugural Women’s Final at Wembley on Thursday night, following a tense 1-1 draw within 90 minutes. It was the 30th game without defeat for the Lionesses under the management of Sarina Wiegman.

More than 83,000 spectators watched what was a clichéd two-half match, with Ella Toone opening the scoring in the first half. But Andressa Alves scored Brazil’s deserved equalizer in the 93rd minute.

Mary Earps got a big hand on Brazil’s first penalty without holding it out, but spectacularly saved the second and then goaded skipper Rafaelle to smash the third into the crossbar. Toone had already seen her save from Leticia, but Euro 2022 final hero Chloe Kelly drilled the decisive fourth.

The Lionesses completely dominated the ball in the first half. Despite the technical quality of the squad, Brazil seemed determined to keep things tight defensively and not overstretch by massing up front. With so little room to play, he posed a problem for the hosts early on and could even provide a model for sides looking to frustrate the European champions at the World Cup.

Keira Walsh has been a bit redundant in the midfield, focusing more on the likes of Lucy Bronze and Lauren James in right and Lauren Hemp in left to make something happen.

Bronze was a real driving force, at times able to play as a winger rather than a full-back and become the de facto extra forward who gave England hope of cracking the code. The Barcelona defender’s drive brought a good diving save to Brazilian goalkeeper Leticia, while he also played James to send the ball into the net for half an hour – an offside flag ruled out.

Before that, Bronze had played the perfect finishing pass for Toone to break the deadlock. She teamed up with former Manchester City teammate Georgia Stanway to design the space and then brought it back to Toone in the space in the center of the box for a clinical finish in the bottom corner.

England had further chances before the break, Hemp’s header straight into Leticia and Alessia Russo’s deft first shot saved by the Brazilian stopper too. The visitors really struggled to do anything noteworthy, but for a vital block by Jess Carter to deny Geyse.

But Pia Sundhage made changes to the half-time Selecao, both in personnel and in form, making her suddenly much more expansive and adventurous. England didn’t know how to respond and were also guilty of losing the ball too cheaply – that’s how Geyse had his chance to drive down a powerful shot which Earps saved in the air and over the top of the bar.

Geyse caught a hesitant Alex Greenwood in possession too close to his own goal, but what should have been the killer pass across the goal for a tap-in was nearly intercepted by Leah Williamson. On the other, Georgia Stanway had England’s best chance from half-time with a powerful shot saved.

As time went on, the Lionesses managed to regain some control: the arrivals of Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly from the bench helped in this regard, giving Brazil something else to think about. But just when it seemed they had done enough, a draw came.

Overall, it was nothing less than they deserved, getting the ball into position down the right. Adriana’s cross was uncharacteristically tipped by Earps and the rebound squeezed by Alves, in the right place at the right time to make full use of and force the shootout.

Penalty

England: Stanway (scored), Toone (wrong), Daly (scored), Greenwood (scored), Kelly (scored)

Brazil: Adriana (scored), Tamires (lost), Rafaelle (lost), Kerolin (scored)

England player ratings (4-3-3)

PORT: Mary Earps – 8/10 – He made an important save from Geyse as Brazil led early in the second half. She’ll be disappointed for spilling the ball for a late equaliser, but then more than made up for it with her role in the shootout.

RB: Lucy Bronze – 8/10 – He played as an extra winger in the first half and looked to be at the heart of everything England was creating. I had to do a lot more defensively after the break.

CB: Leah Williamson (c) – 8/10 – He made an extremely important interception to deny a certain goal when Brazil were in the ascendancy. He showed a good range of passing.

CB: Alex Greenwood – 6/10 – Good distribution as always, but inexplicably caught in possession in a bad box that could have easily resulted in a goal. But he scored in the shootout.

LB: Jess Carter – 6/10 – Created a major block while tracking Geyse. A more defensively functional performance than Bronze on the other side.

CM: Georgia Stanway – 6/10 – It worked well in the right channel with Bronze and James in the top 45. He drowned shortly after but forced a good second-half save from Leticia.

CM: Keira Walsh – 5/10 – He struggled to find the space to collect his usual passes as Brazil blocked in the first half and didn’t make the impact he’s capable of.

CM: Ella Toone – 10/7 – He scored an excellent goal in the opener, before fading from the game. He will be gutted that his penalty in the shootout was saved.

CEO: Lauren James – 7/10 – A goal disallowed for offside. Much better in the first half than in the second.

ST: Alessia Russo – 6/10 – Change position as always, without ever being afraid to go wide to try to pull the Brazilian defense out of position. He didn’t have many real options on his behalf.

LW: Lauren Hemp 6/10 – He had the pace to stretch Brazil, but the final ball wasn’t always there.

Substitutes

SUB: Chloe Kelly (74′ for James) – 7/10

SUB: Rachel Daly (74′ for Russo) – 7/10

SUB: Katie Robinson (88′ for Canapa) – N/A

Manager

Sarina Wiegman – 10/7 – His side found a way to beat Brazil and still create chances in the first half, but the visitors turned things around to take control. He waited a while to go to his bench but when he did he made a positive difference.

Man of the match – Lucy Bronze (England)

This article was originally posted on 90min.com as England 1-1 Brazil (4-2 on penalties): Lionesses player ratings surpass Women’s Final.

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