England forward Beth Mead called for more consistency after the Lionesses required a dramatic comeback to beat the Netherlands 3-2 at Wembley and keep their hopes of qualifying for next summer’s Olympics alive.
The Nations League contest marked a first appearance for second-half substitute Mead in more than a year since she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament last November, just a few months after the Arsenal veteran had won the golden boot at Euro 2022 and also been named player of the tournament.
England will need to beat Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night to have any chance of advancing in the inaugural tournament, with only the group leaders progressing.
Mead said: “The days when I’ve struggled in the gym, long, hard training days of not being able to play football and do the thing that I love, it makes it worthwhile to run out there in front of such big crowd getting a great reception and a ruthless second half of football.
“We can [flick on at a moment’s notice], but we need to do that for 90 minutes. The first half let us down. We were chasing the game and you don’t want to be 2-0 down at half-time.
“But we had the belief in the team, we knew we could score goals and we came out in the second half and I thought the team was amazing. Every single person on the pitch and every player that came on is a game changer. And now we’ve got to do that for 90 minutes and be more consistent throughout the (next) game.”
England and the Netherlands have identical head-to-head records after Friday night’s meeting, which saw goals from Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Ella Toone follow Lineth Beerensteyn’s first-half brace, but the Oranje Leeuwinnen now boast a 4-1 advantage on goal difference.
The Lionesses, therefore, will hope for both improvements to their defence, which spluttered in the build-up to the Dutch opener, and a bit of help from Belgium, who travel to the Netherlands for their own final group stage encounter on Tuesday night.
England could secure top spot with a victory should the Netherlands drop points, but if both they and the Dutch win the Lionesses will require a comprehensive win over Scotland to overcome the goal difference, a situation many have pointed out as unusual considering those same Scottish players would be eligible for Team GB.
Mead, who started every game of England’s Euro 2022 triumph, was actively engaged from the bench throughout the first period, and passed on her observations at half-time before coming on for Chloe Kelly to start the second half.
She added: “Obviously I didn’t know I was coming on until quite late at half-time but everybody in this team can make an impact on the game, whether you’re playing or not playing.
“I think tactically, if you see something, give somebody that information to make the team better. And I think we did that really well at half-time. We give each other the belief and then the players that came on give the energy to the rest of the girls on the pitch. And ultimately that’s probably why we had such a good second half.
“[The win] gives us that little bit of energy again. We know we’re capable of that. We’ve just shown it in front of such a big crowd on such a big occasion and now we’ve got to do it consistently.”
Injury forces Militao out of Brazil's World Cup qualifiers
Eder Militao will miss Brazil's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru due to a thigh injury.
The defender, who also missed September's fixtures due to a leg injury, first felt some discomfort against Atletico Madrid on September 29.
Though he has featured for Real Madrid since, he flew out to Sao Paulo to undergo checks on the issue, where the national team confirmed the extent of the injury.
"[Militao] underwent tests this Sunday... which revealed a minor muscle injury in his left thigh that will prevent him from playing," the CBF said in a statement.
He is the second Madrid player to pull out of the Brazil squad, with Vinicius Junior also unfit to play after suffering a neck injury.
Brazil sit fifth in South America's qualification table after eight matches, with 10 points.
Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Rutter inspires remarkable Seagulls comeback
Brighton managed a remarkable second-half comeback as Georginio Rutter scored one and played a key role for another in a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou's visitors had won their last five games, including their EFL Cup and Europa League exploits, and started well on Sunday as in-form Brennan Johnson scored for a sixth straight outing.
James Maddison doubled the away side's lead before the interval, aided by Bart Verbruggen's handling blunder, but Yankuba Minteh halved that deficit after the restart with a thumping finish.
Destiny Udogie was somewhat at fault for Minteh's finish, and the Spurs defence again struggled as Rutter restored parity before the hour mark after dancing around a couple of defenders.
Former Leeds United star Rutter then edged past numerous Tottenham charges once more, with his cross deflecting up for Danny Welbeck to head in the 66th-minute winner and seal a memorable turnaround.
Verbruggen was still required to deny Udogie late on, however, as Fabian Hurzeler's side held on for a victory that lifted them to sixth and ended Spurs' impressive winning run.
Data Debrief: Johnson's heroics in vain
Johnson has now scored in each of his last six appearances in all competitions, becoming the first Spurs player to do so since departed talisman Harry Kane between December 2018 and January 2019.
The winger's six goals across 10 appearances this season are also more than he managed in 34 outings for Spurs last campaign, though Johnson's efforts proved ultimately in vain.
Sunday marked the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals – they are the first club to hit double figures for this, and have done so three more times than any other club in the competition's history.
Indeed, this memorable turnaround saw Brighton win a league game after trailing by two or more goals at half-time for the first time since a 3-2 victory against Charlton in the Championship in December 2015.
Al-Ahli 1-2 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic double keeps Saudi champions perfect
Aleksandar Mitrovic proved to be the difference once again for Al-Hilal as the reigning Saudi Pro League champions beat Al-Ahli 2-1 on Saturday.
Al-Ahil went in front with 12 minutes played when Gabri Veiga was sent through on goal by Franck Kessie, with the Spaniard rounding Yassine Bounou to open the scoring at King Abdullah Sports City.
The hosts went close to doubling their advantage soon after, with Riyad Mahrez and Ivan Toney going close, before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic saw his effort cleared off the line at the other end.
But parity was restored early in the second half through Al-Hilal's master marksman, as Mitrovic nodded home a trademark header from Renan Lodi's delivery.
Al-Ahil were then awarded a penalty when Rayan Hamed fouled Malcom inside the box, only for Mitrovic to see his effort saved by Abdulrahman Al Sanbi.
However, the Serbian was given the chance to redeem himself after the VAR deemed encroachment had taken place, and he made no mistake at the second time of asking to net his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
Data Debrief: Mitrovic the main man
Mitrovic has been in fine form since his move to Saudi Arabia, with his latest double taking his tally to 54 goals in as many appearances for Al-Hilal.
This time out, he contributed 1.16 expected goals (xG) tally to the visitors' 2.24 total, while also recording the most touches in the opposition box (six).
Malcom also impressed for Al-Hilal, creating more chances (three) than anyone on the pitch, with his 14 passes into the final third a total only bettered by Ruben Neves (18) and Salem Al Dawsari (15) among his team-mates.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
