England dish out a hell of a beating

White and Mead lead charge as brilliant Lionesses smash eight past Norway

Pressure, what pressure? england are through to the quarter- finals of euro 2022 and have topped Group A with a game to spare after a firsthalf massacre of Norway.

It was one hell of a beating and a result that will make other nations sit up and take notice. There were six goals in the opening 45 minutes, a record for a women’s euros match, before another two in the second gave the Lionesses their biggest win in the tournament.

Beth Mead scored a hat-trick, ellen White got a brace while Georgia stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alessia russo were also on target.

There had been plenty of expectation on the shoulders of sarina Wiegman’s players ahead of last night. France, Germany and spain had all got big wins in their opening games while england had edged past Austria. They needed a big performance and Norway boss Martin sojgren had ramped up the tension before kick- off, insisting there was ‘ massive pressure’ on the hosts.

He also labelled them as one of the favourites to win the competition. But Wiegman was unfazed, and so were her players. They have consistently said ‘ pressure is a privilege’. It may be a cliche, but it is one that is working.

so often Wiegman has asked them to be more ruthless in front of goal. In truth, they could and probably should have scored more, which is testament to just how dominant they were.

This was by far their best performance since Wiegman took charge. There had been plenty of talk about Norway’s star player, Ada Hegerberg, who announced her return to international football after a five-year absence in May. she had stepped back from the national team in protest at a lack of support and respect for female footballers in her country. You have to wonder whether she was regretting that decision during those opening 45 minutes.

Norway’s obvious weakness is in defence and in the 12th minute it collapsed. There had been question marks over whether White should retain her starting place after russo’s impressive cameo last week, but it was england’s all- time leading scorer who created the opening goal, winning a penalty after being brought down by Maria Thorisdottir.

You could say White used her experience but VAr did not intervene. england missed three spotkicks at the 2019 World Cup but there were no such problems for stanway, who converted emphatically into the top right corner.

Norway were rocking and three minutes later england had a second. Mead’s cross picked out an unmarked Hemp at the far post, who tapped in from close range. The assistant referee’s flag went up but a VAr check showed Hemp was well onside. White almost made it 3-0 when she sent a volley over the bar, but she would not be kept out for much longer. It was a goal all of her own making as she won the ball back from Thorisdottir on the edge of the box before slotting home.

It took an excellent save from Guro Petterson to prevent White getting a second as she got down to turn the striker’s shot round the post. But england were relentless and a fourth came just two minutes later. White won the ball back from Maren Mjelde before teeing up Hemp, who crossed for Mead to head in at the near post.

Four minutes is all Norway managed before the fifth went in as Mead twisted and turned in the box before firing into the bottom right corner.

At this point, Norway’s players gathered in a huddle for a teamtalk. It had little effect. Three minutes later White made it 6-0, tapping in Fran Kirby’s cross at the far post.

sjogren had been unable to do anything to stop the goals flooding in during the first half. His

side kept england at bay for 21 minutes in the second before russo, who had come off the bench for White, headed in Lucy Bronze’s cross to make it 7-0.

Alex Greenwood, another substitute, almost grabbed an eighth with a shot that rattled the bar. With 15 minutes to go, sjogren took off his best two players in Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen. The game was done, and both players will be needed for their final fixture with Austria.

But there was still time for Mead to get a hat-trick, her third for her country in nine months, as she fired in a low shot.

It is now 16 games, 14 wins and two draws for Wiegman. No

england manager has had a better start to their reign.

she now has the luxury of being able to rotate her team for the final group game against Northern Ireland, who have been eliminated after suffering two defeats on their tournament debut — the latest a 2- 0 loss against Austria at st Mary’s yesterday after goals from Katharina schiechtl and Katharina Naschenweng.

No pressure on that one, sarina.