England’s Lionesses played their eagerly anticipated first pool match against Scotland this evening and they certainly didn’t disappoint as they won 6-0 against the old enemy.
An under-strength Scotland team, having qualified for a major tournament for the first time, found it difficult to keep up with the pace and determination of the England side but despite that, kept competing till the final whistle.
It took England just 10 minutes to score their first goal, and it would be the first of a hat-trick for Jodie Taylor and her all round performance as well as the 3 goals earned her the Player of the Match. Taylor who has suffered terribly from injuries for the last two years was rightly very happy with the performance.
Also on the score sheet were Ellen White – another player the Scots found hard to contain – Jordan Nobbs (with a sumptuous volley) and Toni Duggan – who replaced Taylor on the hour.
In truth the score could have been more than the 6-0, but it is extremely good to see an England team play such attacking, positive football.
In the other game from Pool D Spain beat Portugal by 2-0.
England’s next game is against Spain on Sunday, which perhaps will be a better test of their development while Scotland will be hoping they can shrug off this loss and come out fighting once again when they meet Portugal.
Sunday 23 July 2017
Sparta Stadion Rotterdam – Group D
17.00 SCOTLAND v PORTUGAL
Rat Verlegh Stadion Breda – Group D
19.45 ENGLAND v SPAIN
You can see all fixtures and results so far here.
