England boss Sarina Wiegman lauded the Lionesses’ adaptability after a system shake-up sparked a thumping 6-1 victory over China at the Women’s World Cup.
The Lionesses had not scored more than once in their opening two matches but came alive on a crisp night in front of 13,497 at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium to seal top spot in Group D.
Wiegman took a gamble as she swapped England’s usual 4-3-3 for a 3-5-2 formation, and she was rewarded with goals from five different players including a brace from Chelsea prodigy Lauren James, who also picked up three assists.
“I think we are growing into this tournament,” said Wiegman, whose side will travel back to their Terrigal, New South Wales base camp before flying to Brisbane to meet Nigeria in the knockout stages.
“I think tonight we had a great performance. Of course we made a choice and went for it.
“Everyone really believed in it [the formation] straight away and you could see that on the pitch. They were really excited about it. We want to use the qualities of the squad as optimal as possible. The team showed they were really adaptable.
“I think you could see from the whole team that we were enjoying ourselves, you could tell that we were really connected, the ball is going around and we have different ways to go in attack, and of course Lauren James was one of them when she scored the goals.
“You saw that the team was enjoying every goal, except the one from China.”
Alessia Russo got things started for England after just four minutes, while a dangerous-looking Lauren Hemp marked her return to Wiegman’s starting XI by doubling England’s advantage.
James struck her first after 41 minutes, but was denied a retrospective hat-trick after Australian referee Casey Reibelt turned to VAR and the stoppage-time strike was chalked off.
Lucy Bronze, who was ruled offside in that build-up, found herself at the wrong end of another call to the monitor after the restart and was aggrieved when she was punished for a handball and China were awarded a penalty, converted by Wang Shuang.
Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly wrapped up the victory with late strikes.
Bronze said: “I knew it hit my hand, but it wasn’t deliberate.
“Unless I cut my arm off I don’t know how I get my arm out the way. Again, we sit down with referees every tournament to discuss the rules, the rules are if I’m trying to put my hand next to my body.
“I said to the girls she’s going to give the penalty because it hits my hand but [England keeper] Mary [Earps] was behind me, if I was trying to hit the ball away I would have hit my hand in the air. I knew it wasn’t deliberate but I guess she just wanted to give me a yellow card for fun.
“It wasn’t a fun game in that respect, the referee for me. So, I was quite disappointed with that game to come off with that performance. The most important thing is we won, we’re through to the next game, no one else got injured.”
James, who became the first England player to be directly involved in five or more goals in a game at the men’s or women’s World Cup, admitted it would have been the icing on the cake to complete the hat-trick.
She said: “I was disappointed in the moment obviously but that’s football for you. In the moment I just had to be focused for the game to continue.
“I think just playing with freedom, just enjoying my football and I think tonight showed that. Hopefully I can continue doing that and take it into the next round.”
Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump
Erling Haaland has "full trust" in the "best manager in the world", Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Guardiola's side have lost four matches in a row across all competitions, which is the Spaniard's longest losing run in his entire managerial career.
The Citizens last lost more consecutively between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – the fifth game of which was also against Tottenham).
But after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension at the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on returning to winning ways on home soil.
And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola at City, believes they can make up the gap to leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead.
"When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.
"[Guardiola] demands us to be at our best in every training session, in every game. And that's what we need to do. It hasn't been good enough, losing four games now, but let's try to win the next."
Arsenal handed another injury blow as White ruled out for 'months'
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal defender Ben White is facing "months" on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury.
White had been dealing with several issues all season and has missed five games in all competitions for the Gunners already this term.
After struggling through until the November international break, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
It serves as a bitter blow for Arteta, with only Thomas Parety (13) making more interceptions than White (11) for Arsenal in the Premier League this campaign.
Though Arteta confirmed that the surgery was successful, White is set for a lengthy spell out of the team.
"It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately," said Arteta.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
"He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months."
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: "We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."
It offers a concern for Arteta in the full-back area, with the Spaniard also revealing on Friday that Takehiro Tomiyasu is "going to be out as well for a bit".
There was, however, some positive injury news for the Gunners ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on Saturday.
After not featuring for England during the international break, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be fit to feature against Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Leandro Trossard will also be available for Arteta despite picking up a hamstring injury during the international break with Belgium.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in contention for Saturday's game after a month out with a knee problem.
Conte hopes for Ranieri's success at Roma after Napoli clash
Antonio Conte hopes that everything will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A clash this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he began as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club sacked two coaches already this season and with the team 12th in the standings.
A trip to leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first task, and Conte is looking forward to meeting up with the 73-year-old.
"I am pleased to see Claudio, I have great esteem for him and there is also friendship," Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"I am happy with the chance he has been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year, Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
"They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything starts to work after Sunday's game."
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric brings with it not just the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also upsets Conte's plans for the game.
"When a team changes coach there is an important input on a nervous level," Conte said.
"They are at the third change on the bench. It's inevitable that, if Juric had remained, we knew what kind of team we were going to face.
"Now it's an enigma, we don't have much information nor do we know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path."
After a streak of 21 consecutive home wins in Serie A, Conte lost his last home league match (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two consecutive home defeats in the competition: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli are top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, which includes the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, for now, it is a different title race than usual.
"Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points," he said.
"We are doing well, but so are the others. There isn't one team which has distanced the others. Perhaps there is a little amazement in seeing some teams in those positions in the standings."
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