England rocked by France defeat as VAR rules out Russo goal | OneFootball

Controversial VAR call, missed chances, and France’s ruthless finishing cost England dearly as Wiegman’s perfect Euros record ended in a high-stakes group clash.

Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images

France defeated England 2–1 in Lyon to hand Sarina Wiegman her first ever loss at a European Championship. The England manager had previously overseen 12 consecutive wins at the tournament across spells with the Netherlands and England, lifting the trophy on both occasions.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore scored for France, while Keira Walsh got one late goal back for England.

England were a bit unlucky on the night, as the game could have turned out differently had Alessia Russo’s goal not been disallowed by VAR for a Beth Mead offside. At some point, IFAB will have to introduce the Arsène Wenger-suggested change of rule, as VAR and the A-VAR have definitely changed the way things are checked.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

At that point, England were on top and dominating proceedings. They had created multiple chances and Lauren James was running the game. The disallowed goal seemed to have a positive effect on France, who woke up and started pressing more, with greater intensity and success.

France scored two goals in three minutes, both coming from England turnovers and fast transitions. First on the right wing, De Almeida fed Cascarino, who ran past Carter with ease and sent a low cross for an easy Katoto tap-in. 1–0 to les Bleues.

Three minutes later, France won the ball back and sent it to the left wing to Baltimore, who managed to evade Bronze and Williamson with a little bit of luck and ended up smashing a right-footed shot into the top corner. 2–0 after 39 minutes and it was a mountain to climb for England.

Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

England struggled to create many chances, as creativity was left in the hands of Lauren James and later Grace Clinton. But it was not enough. Interestingly, Sarina Wiegman mentioned England were sloppy in their passing and played into France’s hands by trying too much short passing and less direct football.

On the France side, the three forwards, Cascarino, Katoto, and Baltimore, were excellent, with the two wingers giving a hard time to Carter and Bronze. The midfield battle was intense, with Jean-François playing in the six role to add physicality alongside the more creative Karchaoui and Geyoro. England’s midfield three was Walsh, Stanway, and James, who was superb on the ball and dictated play in the first half.

On the Arsenal side, Russo was good and scored a goal that was unlucky to be ruled out. She had a busy night fighting at the front of the attack.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Williamson, like the whole defence, had her hands full and did not produce any of her usual long, accurate passes. England’s build-up play was generally poor.

Mead caused problems early in the game for the French defence, operating in the half-space and leaving the wing to Bronze, interchanging with James. She was ultimately offside and inadvertently denied Russo the goal.

Kelly and Agyemang came on as substitutes and tried, with some success, to turn things around once England pulled a goal back. Kelly was effective on the wing and took set-pieces, while Agyemang came on with four minutes to go. Her introduction may offer Arsenal some ideas, as she was deployed alongside Russo in a 4-4-2 system.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

This kind of late introduction could be useful next season, pairing Agyemang with Blackstenius to have two pacy forwards attacking from all areas of the pitch.

England now have to beat the Netherlands if they want to stay in the tournament, as a draw would leave them relying on France on the final matchday. The Dutch are full of confidence after beating Wales 3–0, with goals from Viv Miedema, her 100th for the Netherlands, Vicky Pelova, and Esme Brugts.

Letting the Netherlands have most of the possession and going direct will likely be the game plan and suits England’s strengths. We saw on Saturday that a possession-heavy style is not natural for England in the way it is for France or Spain.

As Lucy Bronze mentioned post-game, England also lost to France in the 2015 World Cup opener in Canada and still reached the semi-finals, ultimately taking home the bronze medal. So anything can still happen in this Euros.