Northern Ireland 0 England 5: Lionesses overcome Shiels’ aces in front of record Windsor Park crowd

ELLA TOONE netted her tenth England goal as the Lionesses stayed on song to notch up eight wins in eight World Cup qualifiers.

Braces from Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway were among the efforts that saw the team trounce Northern Ireland 5-0.

The result saw the World Cup hopes of Kenny Shiels’ side all but ended with the team now looking ahead to their first-ever Euros campaign.

And it leaves England needing justing a point to qualify for the tournament to be held in Australia and New Zealand next year.

Lionesses chief Sarina Wiegman said: “As a team we were really good today. We dominated even more than we did in October.

“We are trying to get connected all the time and the players’ competitiveness in this team is so high.

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“I think the 5-0 result is great, 5-0. It’s a very mature performance from us.

“We dominated the game throughout the 90 minutes and we hoped to score more goals in the first half but four goals in the second half is very nice to see.”

England looked to strike early minute in front of a record 15,348 Windsor Park crowd.

This came through Ella Toone teeing up a low shot before Kelsie Burrows intervened with a tackle around the second minute.

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And the hosts attempted to capitalise on Jess Carter’s slip with Lauren Wade darting towards the box before Millie Bright and Leah Williamson helped regain possession.

Northern Ireland’s bullish defending early on– spearheaded by Sarah McFadden and Julie Nelson – kept the visitors at bay for a spell.

Ellen White, currently level with Harry Kane with her tally of England goals, saw her attempts to shoot thwarted by McFadden in the 17^th minute.

And the striker had a goal disallowed moments later after burying a rebound following Beth Mead’s shot on the edge of the box.

England eventually got their breakthrough with Hemp putting them ahead in the 24th minute.

The winger’s scuffed chip flew over the head of keeper Jackie Burns to break the deadlock.

McFadden made another vital interception blocking Leah Williamson’s dangerous cross moments after the half-hour mark.

This came shortly before Hemp got her head on the end of Lucy Bronze’s cross before nodding the ball over minutes before half-time.

The second spell saw Wiegman’s side crank up the pressure by upping the pace of their passing.

And they got their rewards with Toone putting them two up with a composed finish after Bronze’s pinpoint cross.

Following Mary Earps’ first save of the game, England went 3-0 ahead with Hemp rounding Burns in the 60^th minute.

And Stanway made it four with a thumping 70th-minute strike before registering her brace nine minutes later.

She did so with her low shot finding the bottom corner after the hosts sought to clear the ball out of danger.

The 5-0 trouncing sees England remain in pole position in Group D with their eighth clean sheet.

And the team unbeaten under boss Sarina Wiegman with games against the Netherlands and Belgium up next in June.  

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk