Lionesses Live Blog: England Women vs Portugal

Find out how Arsenal's Lisbon Lionesses get on against Portugal at Wembley




Lionesses Live Blog: England Women vs Portugal 

Find out how Arsenal's Lisbon Lionesses get on against Portugal at Wembley 

 

 

 

Live BLog Friday May 30th

Please stand-by, this page will automatically update with live commentary and comments

  1. Keith Morrow : 21:40 #7656

    Thanks for reading. And don't forget to keep an eye on our website onlinegooner.com for all our latest Arsenal Women's coverage. And while we're at it, why not drop a 'Like/Follow' on our Gooner Fanzine Facebook page, cheers

  2. Keith Morrow : 21:39 #7655

    And that's the final whistle! England Women rout Portugal Women 6-0 here at Wembley.

  3. Keith Morrow : 21:37 #7654

    Leah Williamson normally so calm is absolutely furious with Portuguese No2 Catarina Amado who looks like she attempted to headbutt the England star

  4. Keith Morrow : 21:33 #7653

    Three minutes additional time announced with England 6-0 up

  5. Keith Morrow : 21:28 #7652

    83 - Portugal's beleaguered keeper Ines Pereira makes an excellent diving save at her near post to keep out Beevor-Jones impudent effort with the outside of her right boot

  6. Keith Morrow : 21:14 #7651

    The official attendance tonight here at England vs Portugal has been given as 48,531. Very impressive. Well done to everyone in attendance here at Wembley

  7. Keith Morrow : 21:08 #7650

    GOAL: England 6-0 Portugal. Chloe Kelly heads home with practically her first touch after coming on as substitute. Good to note Beth Mead with the assist as the Arsenal pair combine perfectly

  8. Keith Morrow : 21:07 #7649

    62 - GOAL! Arsenal's Chloe Kelly makes it 6-0 after nodding home Beth Mead's cross!

  9. Keith Morrow : 21:07 #7648

    57 - substitutions - Lucy Bronze, Lauren Hemp, and Esme Morgan make way for Maya Le Tissier, Chloe Kelly, and Alex Greenwood

  10. Keith Morrow : 20:55 #7647

    49 - Grace Clinton fires high and wide for England. If you're going to shoot from outside the box you have to do far better than that. Not good enough from the Manchester United midfielder who spent a season out on loan to Spurs two years ago

  11. Keith Morrow : 20:48 #7646

    The teams are out ahead of the second half. Can't see any changes for England just yet. Will it be a long 45 minutes for Portugal or will the Lionesses levels drop with the game essentially won the in opening five minutes

  12. Keith Morrow : 20:45 #7645

    From an Arsenal point of view I would always back Alessia Russo to start for England but you have to say her replacement tonight Aggie Beevor-Jones has been excellent, albeit against a very limited Portuguese side. She can play through the middle as well as left and right, links the play up well as well as being a lively No9. A nice selection problem for Wiegman to have...

  13. Keith Morrow : 20:35 #7644

    And now it's half time. England 5-0 Portugal. What a half of aggressive, attacking football from Sarina Wingman's side. Yes the visitors are weak, but don't forget they earned a goalless draw over here during the Lionesses last game before jetting off to the 2023 World Cup in Australia

  14. Keith Morrow : 20:33 #7643

    The referee blows her whistle as the crowd and plenty of England players think it's half time. But it's for a foul instead as a cameraman rushes off the pitch as fast as he raced onto the turf

  15. Keith Morrow : 20:31 #7642

    Three additional minutes announced at the end of a fraught first half for Portugal against a lively England side

  16. Keith Morrow : 20:26 #7641

    40 - Beth Mead's inviting low ball into the box misses Lauren Hemp's slide by a matter of inches

  17. Keith Morrow : 20:24 #7640

    Not a bad game for Hannah Hampton to play in the aftermath of Mary Earps' decisions to quit

  18. Keith Morrow : 20:19 #7639

    England Women 5-0 Portugal Women. A hat trick for Aggie Beever-Jones in just over half an hour as Sarina Wiegman's side blitz their visitors here at Wembley.

  19. Keith Morrow : 20:18 #7638

    32 - GOAL!! Beever-Jones makes it five and lands a hattrick in just 32 minutes here at Wembley. What a start by Sarina Wingman's side

  20. Keith Morrow : 20:17 #7637

    England Women 4-0 Portugal Women. Beth Mead slots home after Jess Park plays the Arsenal star into the box, as the legendary Mead makes no mistake by firing into the net past visitors keeper Ines Pereira just before the half hour

  21. Keith Morrow : 20:15 #7636

    29 - GOAL! Arsenal's Beth Mead gets in on the act by making it four for England and we haven't even reached the half hour mark yet here at Wembley.

  22. Keith Morrow : 20:12 #7635

    England 3-0 Portugal: Beevor-Jones with her second of the match after nodding home Lucy Bronze's cross

  23. Keith Morrow : 20:11 #7634

    26 - GOAL! It's Aggie Beevor Jones once again who nods home with acres of space in the box as the Portuguese defence go awol...

  24. Keith Morrow : 20:09 #7633

    Not much is happening. Bar an infernal Mexican wave. Or is it me just being grumpy...

  25. Keith Morrow : 20:08 #7632

    20 - Excellent turn on the half way line by Lauren Hemp to set up an England attack. Hemp has looked lively from the start and from an England perspective is thankfully showing no lasting effects from her knee injury at the end of 2024

  26. Keith Morrow : 20:03 #7631

    17 - Good work by Lauren Hemp sees England work the ball down the right flank before Hemp fires in a cross

  27. Keith Morrow : 19:56 #7630

    Portugal have settled slightly after the shock of conceding two goals in the opening five minutes

  28. Keith Morrow : 19:52 #7629

    5 - GOAL! England 2-0 Portugal - Now it's Lucy Bronze's turn to score with a header after Beth Mead's blocked effort flies perfectly towards the legendary full-back who nods home to make no mistake. Portugal's keeper Ines Pereira shakes her head as if in disbelief....

  29. Keith Morrow : 19:49 #7628

    3 - GOAL! England 1-0 Portugal. Aggie Beever-Jones scores with only 180 seconds elapsed after a neat finish low into the far corner to put the Lionesses ahead here at Wembley

  30. Keith Morrow : 19:46 #7627

    That's the knee taken to cheers here at Wembley and we're off for England Women vs Portugal Women on a pleasant Friday evening at the national stadium here in North West London

  31. Keith Morrow : 19:44 #7626

    And that's both national anthems done as the teams gear up for kick-off here at Wembley. What's your score prediction?

  32. Keith Morrow : 19:44 #7625

    Arsenal legend Leah Williamson leads out the England Women to face Portugal Women here at Wembley

  33. Keith Morrow : 19:23 #7624

    And of course let's not forget AWFC's hugely promising Michelle Agyemang is on the bench for England tonight. The 19-year-old Arsenal attacker has already scored for the senior England team this year. What a prospect

  34. Keith Morrow : 19:22 #7623

    Great to note more than 55,000 tickets have been sold for tonight's fixture at Wembley

  35. Keith Morrow : 19:20 #7622

    FYI: Arsenal's Alessia Russo is sidelined with a minor calf injury

  36. Keith Morrow : 19:17 #7621

    How Group A3 stands England currently sit second in Group A3, two points behind Spain. They face the World Cup winners on Tuesday in Barcelona. The winner of the group will go on to the Nations League finals, which will be played October and November.

  37. Keith Morrow : 19:10 #7620

    Portugal team news to play England: Pereira, Borges, Costa, Pinto, Norton, Jacinto, Silva, Pinto, Amado, Capeta, Silva. Subs: Morais, Cota-Yarde, Fonseca, Lino, Lopes, Ribeiro, Silva, Faria, Mendes, Correia, Dias, Encarnacao.

  38. Keith Morrow : 18:59 #7619

    The England team have just run onto the pitch for their pre-match warm up to cheers at Wembley

  39. Keith Morrow : 18:58 #7618

    With her penalty against Belgium on MD4 of the 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League, Arsenal's Beth Mead (34) moved ahead of both Eni Aluko and Karen Carney (33 each) into outright sixth on England’s all-time top scorers list – Mead is also the Lionesses’ leading goal scorer under Sarina Weigman (26).

  40. Keith Morrow : 18:57 #7617

    Did you know: England have lost just one of their last 50 competitive home matches (W41 D8), losing 2-1 to France 364 days ago in May 2024 in a UEFA European Championship qualifier

  41. Keith Morrow : 18:57 #7616

    Portugal have failed to score on four previous visits to face England, though did draw 0-0 with the Lionesses in their most recent away game against the Lionesses back in July 2023 in Milton Keynes.

  42. Keith Morrow : 18:56 #7615

    Did you know England are unbeaten in 11 previous meetings with Portugal across all competitions (W7 D4), only facing Finland (13), Northern Ireland (12) and Switzerland (12) more often without suffering defeat in their history.

  43. Keith Morrow : 18:41 #7614

    Chelsea's Aggie-Beever Jones starts upfront after Arsenal's Alessia Russo misses out on tonight's game. While Esme Morgan starts alongside the Gunners Leah Williamson

  44. Keith Morrow : 18:40 #7613

    Subs: Keating, Moorhouse, Charles, Le Tissier, Greenwood, Stanway, Kelly, Kearns, Parris, Kirby, Wubben-Moy, Agyemang - meaning Arsenal loanee Chloe Kelly is on the bench for England this evening

  45. Keith Morrow : 18:39 #7612

    England Women team news to play Portugal at Wembley: Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Carter; Walsh, Clinton, Park; Mead, Beever-Jones, Hemp - so two of Arsenal's Lisbon Lionesses make the starting line-up in Leah and Beth

  46. Keith Morrow : 18:34 #7611

    Team news coming up shortly, in the meantime Leah Williamson says: Williamson players will have to step up in Mary's Earps absence "She's a leader and has got experience and it leaves a gap there," said Leah, adding: "But we've had that happen before and player have to step up and show what they're made of. It's what you prepare for as a team - being ready for all of those eventualities."

  47. Keith Morrow : 18:28 #7610

    Millie Bright is missing this evening, cleary exhausted after the long-running demands of top level football for club and country. Here's defensive partner Leah Williamson on her centre-back partner: England captain Leah Williamson on Millie Bright: "For anyone to speak out about their mental health is a brave thing to do. It encourages people to do the same. She's leading by example. "I've personally given Millie a bit of space, but naturally, anything she needs from the team, we'll be there to give it to her."

  48. Keith Morrow : 18:26 #7609

    From a personal point of view, I feel like Earps' has let England down. Retiring from international duty five weeks before a major tournament is simply selfish. She has let her teammates down, she has let her manager down and she has let her country down. However, as Einstein once said: "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." Good luck Hannah Hampton.

  49. Keith Morrow : 18:22 #7608

    While Arsenal legend and England captain Leah Williamson said of Earps' shock international retirement: "I would always try and change her mind because I want her as a teammate. But us as players, we know better than anyone else and we've been on journeys together. The demands on and off then pitch, there's so much that comes into play these days. So to come to that hard decision, I have to respect her in that. But she knows I didn't want her to leave."

  50. Keith Morrow : 18:20 #7607

    Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman on Mary Earps' decision to end her England career, saying she is "sad and emotional" after such an "incredible journey".

  51. Keith Morrow : 18:19 #7606

    Of course, the big non AWFC news this week has been Mary Earls retirement. It's hard not to be frustrated at the loss of such an experienced keeper a matter of weeks before the Euros. The England camp have tried to put a brave face on it with boss Wiegman and Leah Williamson refusing to criticise the former Manchester United keeper

  52. Keith Morrow : 18:17 #7605

    Out of Arsenal's five Lisbon Lionesses we are only expecting Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly to feature from the start or during the match. With Alessia Russo definitely out, with Lotte missing too we understand

  53. Keith Morrow : 18:12 #7604

    Of course, tonight's match will also be a chance for Arsenal supporters - and fair minded fans everywhere - to pay tribute to the Lisbon Lionesses, after Leah Williamson, Beth Mead Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Lotte Webber Moy lifted the Champions League last weekend for the Gunners after an incredible performance against Barca in the Portuguese capital

  54. Keith Morrow : 18:10 #7603

    Hello and welcome from Wembley Stadium this sunny Friday. England Women are hosting Portugal Women here at the national stadium as part of their Nations League commitments. But with the 2025 European Championships at the start of July, this clash, along with Tuesday's in Spain will give an indication of where Sarina Wingman's side are at the moment


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