Arsenal’s Agyemang shines with two goals as England triumph in tournament opener with 2-1 win over Poland, despite being reduced to 10 players.

• England, led by Mo Marley, started their tournament with a 2-1 victory over Poland despite being reduced to 10 players after 35 minutes. Arsenal’s Michelle Agyemang was the star of the match, scoring both of England’s goals.
• After Mari Ward was sent off, England adjusted their formation from 4-3-3 to 4-3-2. Arsenal’s Araya Dennis moved from the right-wing to left-back to cover Ward’s position, demonstrating their tactical flexibility and resilience under pressure.
• Despite being a player down, England successfully held on to their lead until the 92nd minute.

 

Mo Marley’s team opened their tournament with a 2-1 victory, despite going down to 10 players after 35 minutes.

Arsenal’s Michelle Agyemang scored the two England goals.

First, with a powerful shot from inside the box in the fourth minute. Then, in the 22nd minute, Agyemang took advantage of a misunderstanding between the Polish goalkeeper and one of her centre-backs to put the ball in the back of the net from close range.

At that point, England was in control, but Mari Ward was sent off in the 35th minute for denying a goalscoring opportunity after fouling a forward who was going through.

Sophia Poor in goal saved the penalty from Magdalena Polrolniczak to keep the scoreline at 2-0.

England then shifted from a 4-3-3 to a 4-3-2 formation with Arsenal’s Araya Dennis moving from the right-wing to left-back to cover Ward’s position.

They held on to that clean sheet until the 92nd minute, when Poland scored through their substitute Wiktoria Kuprowska, but it was too late for Poland to come back and get a draw.

England created chances while it was 11 v 11 and then defended for their lives very well against a tough opponent.

It was certainly a well-deserved victory.

All the Arsenal players took part in the game.

Katie Reid started at centre-back and had a good game clearing balls and building up play.

Laila Harbert started in midfield in front of the defence.

Araya Dennis, as previously mentioned, started in attack alongside Michelle Agyemang.

Isabella Fisher came on as a sub in attack in injury time and managed to get booked late in the game.

Here are all the results from Matchday 1:

Group A Germany 0-2 Spain (Kadriorg Stadium, Tallinn) Estonia 0-4 Switzerland (Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn)

Group B England 2-1 Poland (Võru Stadium, Võru) Sweden 0-3 France (Tartu Tamme Stadium, Tartu)

England sits in second place in Group B’s table behind France. They are next up against Sweden on Wednesday, 17 May at 5pm BST.