Taylor treble sparks England rout
JODIE Taylor scored a hat-trick as England demolished newcomers Scotland 6-0 at the women’s European Championship while Spain cruised past Portugal in their opening Group D match in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
In Utrecht, Arsenal striker Taylor struck an 11th-minute opener, capitalising on a run by Lucy Bronze, before firing home again in the 27th minute following a goalmouth scramble.
Ellen White made it 3-0 five minutes later from a rebound after Jill Scott’s long-range blast hit the crossbar, and Taylor completed her hat-trick on 53 minutes, chipping the ball over Gemma Fay in the Scottish goal following a flick-on header from White.
Jordan Nobbs scored a fifth goal three minutes from the end with a volley and substitute Toni Duggan rounded off the rout with a header in stoppage time as England recorded the biggest margin of victory in tournament history.
“I’m happy to get three goals but I wouldn’t be able to score without the service of the team,” said Taylor.
“The last two years have been tough. It’s a huge achievement for myself to be here.”
Scotland had a decent chance in each half but were outclassed on their first appearance at a major competition and extended their losing streak against England in competitive matches to seven.
“It was a tough debut for us, but I think we played against a very, very good side, a contender in this tournament,” said Scotland coach Anna Signeul.
“We’re disappointed to lose by so many goals. We will learn from this, we’ll work on our resilience and we’ll come back. It’s not over.”
In Doetinchem, first-half goals from Vicky Losada and Amanda Sampedro handed Spain a convincing 2-0 win against Euro debutants Portugal.
Barcelona midfielder Losada opened the scoring on 23 minutes after a long pass from Andrea Pereira, slamming the ball past the helpless keeper Patricia Morais.
Atletico’s Sampedro made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time, heading in a cross from Mariona Caldentey.
“I’m happy with the result, our first half was almost perfect,” said Spain coach Jorge Vilda. “They are really strong defensively but we were better.”
Spain, who won t wice against Portugal in t he Euro 2017 qualif y ing campaign, started with seven players from Champions League semifinalists Barcelona.
They showed their dominance from t he beginning, wit h Jennifer Hermoso firing over t he bar early in the game, while Silv ia Meseguer was denied by Morais after a fine exchange in the box.
The second half was very much in the same vein. Spain were in control, barely letting their rivals cross the halfway line and restricting Portugal to a single shot from captain Claudia Neto, which went wide.
In today’s Group B games, Sweden tackle Russia at the De Adelaarshorst stadium in Deventer, while Germany face Italy at the Koning Willem II Stadion in Tilburg.
Russia top the group after their 2-1 victory over the Italians, while Germany and Sweden are locked together after their 0-0 draw in the last round of matches.