Lauren Hemp’s early strike gave England yet another win over Spain on Tuesday night, the Lionesses emerging 1-0 victors in their first meeting with La Roja since last summer’s European Championship final. England were winners on that occasion, on penalties, and they came out on top again here as their third victory in their last four encounters with the world champions gave them a notable advantage in a cut-throat World Cup qualifying group.
Only the group winners will qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament in Brazil, with the rest having to navigate the play-offs, and with Ukraine and Iceland the other two sides in this group, it’s likely that top spot will be decided by the two meetings between England and Spain. This was the first of them and it was the Lionesses who took the early lead in it when Hemp improvised brilliantly to acrobatically fire the ball just over the line despite the best efforts of Cata Coll and Alexia Putellas. With just three minutes on the clock, it was the earliest goal scored by Sarina Wiegman’s side at the new Wembley Stadium.
England had chances to add to that lead, too. Lauren James fired over after beating Ona Batlle with ease and Hemp hit the post after a lovely backheel from Lucy Bronze as Spain took time to get going. The world champions were without Aitana Bonmati, who has been out since November with a broken leg, but it was a surprise that they did not carry more of a threat given the likes of Alexia Putellas and Mariona Caldentey were involved, though credit does also have to go to a solid Lionesses defence that coped well without captain Leah Williamson.
After the break, the game was much more open and chances flowed. Olga Carmona and Vicky Lopez both hit the woodwork for Spain, while Lucia Kendall sent a big opportunity over the bar at the other end before Alessia Russo missed the target after breaking through one-on-one. It felt sure that there would be another goal, with Spain piling on the pressure late on to try to make sure that was the case with a late equaliser. But England stood tall, with Hannah Hampton making an outstanding save in the last minute to deny Edna Imade a leveller.
That preserved a vital clean sheet and a huge win for the Lionesses, who now go three points clear at the top of the group. There are still three games for both sides to play, including a meeting between these two to come in Spain, but Wiegman’s side have put themselves in an excellent position at the halfway point when it comes to qualifying for next summer’s World Cup as efficiently as possible.
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