England boss Sarina Wiegman maintained full faith in her side to stage the stunning second-half comeback that lifted the Lionesses to a 3-2 win over the Netherlands in their penultimate Women’s Nations League group-stage clash at Wembley.
Needing a victory to remain in contention to finish top in group A1 and advance in the tournament, which serves as a qualifier for next summer’s Olympics in Paris, England quickly dug themselves a hole after Lineth Beerensteyn netted twice before the break.
But the Lionesses battled back after the restart on a frigid night in London, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp stoking the crowd back into a frenzy by the hour mark before substitute Ella Toone sealed a dramatic victory in stoppage time.
Wiegman said: “I was actually pretty calm. I was very disappointed they scored the second goal because I didn’t think we played bad. The second goal we were a little bit unlucky, it was an unnecessary goal. We didn’t play bad but we needed some more. We truly believed we could turn it around. We never lost trust.
“At half-time we said the game was absolutely not over and that if we score a goal they can become a bit shaky.
“They were struggling with the defence with how we played in attack. We also did a tactical thing we needed to do better in defence. We said everyone needed to step up and bring something extra. You could tell the players gave everything because they were really tired.”
It leaves England in second place in the group, level on points with the Netherlands and one in front of Belgium, ahead of concluding their group matches by playing Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday. Belgium drew 1-1 with Scotland in Friday’s other Group A1 contest.
England and the Dutch are level in terms of head-to-head record, with the latter – who face Belgium at home next week – having a goal difference superior by three, while England will finish their group stage away at relegated Scotland on Tuesday.
Despite the victory, England’s keeper Mary Earps was left in tears as she spoke post-match about the two goals the Lionesses conceded, the second of which saw her get her glove to the ball only to see it slip past her and trickle in – something that left the Manchester United stopper beating the turf in frustration.
Knowing England needed to win by two goals to take over at the top of the group, Earps told ITV: “I thought the girls were unbelievable to come back into the game. I thought they were unbelievable, the subs that come on impacted the game.
“I am just sorry that my performance has cost the team tonight.
“That [second goal] will haunt me for a long time today, I am really gutted because it could have been a really special night.
“The team were unbelievable, don’t get me wrong, the goals are unbelievable, the way that they played and moved it around showed great patience at times, real tenacity, real intensity to the play.
“I am a competitor but when it is not good enough, it is not good enough and I can only apologise to my team-mates and to the fans, I take that fully with my whole chest.”
The apology was utterly unnecessary for Wiegman, who said: “I spoke to her very shortly and I don’t want her to talk like that.
“We win as a team and lose as a team. That is part of the game. Of course she didn’t like the team down, everyone does her best. You only let the team down when you don’t put effort into the game and we never don’t put effort in.
“Everyone stepped up. We needed to step up as a team. I think everyone did that.”
Nuno looking beyond Man City's poor form ahead of clash with Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo insists Manchester City remain a top-quality side despite their poor run of form heading into Wednesday's Premier League contest.
City have gone seven games without a win in all competitions – the longest-such streak in Pep Guardiola's managerial career – with six of those ending in defeat.
Sunday's 2-0 loss at leaders Liverpool leaves the reigning champions fifth and now 11 points adrift of the Reds, but Nuno is looking beyond this poor run of form before facing off at the Etihad Stadium.
"It's the reality of the game – you always have ups and downs," Nuno said. "Every team has to be ready to face those moments of uncertainty when things are not going well.
"It's how long you stay there and how you bounce back from those moments; how you reorganise and improve. Their run doesn't take away the quality and the talent they have.
"Let's not forget, they're the champions and have won so much with such quality players and such a good manager. When you have such quality players and play such good football, for sure they'll turn it around."
Recharge and go again. pic.twitter.com/H5bQhrPL74
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 2, 2024
City are only one point and one place better off than Forest, who put back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Newcastle United behind them with a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at the weekend.
Guardiola, who has won 18 trophies across his eight full seasons as City boss, is determined to battle on having only just signed a new two-year contract.
"I've lived better before than now," he said. "But I'm incredibly honest with myself and, when we were winning a lot, my perspective was I was fortunate to live that.
"Now I'm not depressed that everything is going bad. When I think I cannot do it we will talk with the club but I feel that I want to do it and life is not in all departments perfect."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City - Erling Haaland
Haaland has failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games for City, although he does still have 15 goals in his past 11 games at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions.
The leading Premier League top scorer this season, who has 12 goals in 13 matches overall, has also netted four times in two games on home soil against Forest.
Nottingham Forest - Chris Wood
Wood scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Ipswich via the penalty spot and also has 12 goals in his past 13 away Premier League away games for Forest.
The New Zealand international is looking to become the first Reds player to score in four successive away games in the competition, and the first in the English top flight for the club since Garry Birtles in 1983-84.
Ready for more? pic.twitter.com/zpomnE4CtA
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 2, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
City have conceded three-plus goals in both of their past two home games in all competitions, which they last managed in 1963 when going on to be relegated from the top flight.
Guardiola's men may be in poor form, but they are unbeaten in their past eight league games against Forest stretching back to a 3-2 loss in the second tier in December 1997.
Forest have also lost their past four away league games against City by an aggregate scoreline of 12-0, while they are winless in their past seven top-flight visits since 1989.
The Reds have lost their past five away games against reigning top-flight champions by an aggregate scoreline of 21-2, meanwhile, since beating Manchester City 2-1 in December 1994.
If the omens were not already stacked against Forest, opponents City are unbeaten in their past 31 home Premier League games on a Wednesday, winning each of the past 20.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Manchester City win - 66.8%
Nottingham Forest win - 14.8%
Draw - 18.4%
Slot's flying Premier League start unprecedented, claims Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips has been blown away by Arne Slot's remarkable start as Liverpool head coach.
Slot took over ahead of the season following Jurgen Klopp's departure.
Having enjoyed success at Feyenoord, Slot has hit the ground running at Anfield.
He has lost just one game so far, with Liverpool leading the Premier League by nine points, while they are top of the Champions League standings with a perfect record and are into the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
Slot's Reds are averaging 2.3 goals per game, while conceding just 0.6 on average, and former England international Wright-Phillips has been hugely impressed.
"I don't think I have [seen such a strong start]. He's done tremendously well in so many phases of the game," Wright-Phillips told Stats Perform.
"If you think of Klopp's style — high-risk, high-energy football — Slot hasn't changed too much but doesn't risk the ball as much.
"They still play a similar direct style, as we saw against City. It seemed like they went direct more often than in previous games.
"He seems to have a great handle on it. It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back after the Christmas period, which will be tough with Champions League games and back-to-back Premier League fixtures.
"He may not be used to playing that regularly, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles this period."
Liverpool are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, which is their biggest lead in the competition since they won the title in the 2019-20 season.
According to the Opta supercomputer, the Reds now have an 83.7% chance of going on to win the title.
Roma 0-2 Atalanta: De Roon and Zaniolo make it eight Serie A wins in a row
Nicolo Zaniolo scored against his former side as Atalanta defeated Roma 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Monday to make it eight Serie A wins in a row and move within one point of leaders Napoli.
Marten de Roon opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that heavily deflected in off Zeki Celik, before substitute Zaniolo sealed the points in the final minute with a glancing header.
Claudio Ranieri was taking charge of Roma on home soil for the first time since returning for a third spell in charge and saw his side start brightly, with Leandro Paredes testing Marco Carnesecchi and Manu Kone firing just wide.
Atalanta had an Ademola Lookman goal ruled out for offside before half-time as they started to assert a little more authority on the game.
Artem Dovbyk was next to go close for Roma, forcing Carnesecchi into a good save, but Atalanta captain De Roon found the breakthrough at the other end when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mile Svilar.
Zaniolo then got his head to Juan Cuadrado's corner for Atalanta's second, which he did not hold back on celebrating with the travelling fans, as 15th-placed Roma were condemned to a fourth league loss in a row for the first time in 16 years.
EIGHT IN A ROW! #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/8UQPlAsiXf
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 2, 2024
Data Debrief: Game goes way of the form book
This is only the second time Atalanta have ever won eight Serie A matches in a row, having previously done so between February and July 2020.
Roma's form could not be any more contrasting, as they have lost four on the spin in the league for the first time since 2008 under Luciano Spalletti.
I Giallorossi have now picked up just one point from their past four Serie A fixtures against Atalanta, losing four and drawing one of those encounters.
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