England’s attacking excellence was ultimately nullified by their defensive frailties as they suffered a 4-3 defeat to Germany in a thrilling friendly at Wembley Stadium.
The topsy-turvy clash saw Sarina Wiegman’s side fall 3-0 down within 29 minutes, but Georgia Stanway’s double before the break put the hosts back in the contest.
England, however, continued to make defensive mistakes and conceded a penalty in the 72nd minute, which was converted perfectly by Sara Dabritz. Lucy Bronze’s late tap-in made for a grand-stand finish, but Wiegman’s side were unable to get on level terms on a dramatic evening under the Wembley arch.
“My first reaction is I’m disappointed,” Stanway told ITV after the match. “Obviously, for them to score that early, for them to take the lead that high, it’s not like us.
“It’s good that we got back into the game, but the penalty was a little bit unfortunate I think.
“Yeah it’s one we need to learn off, we knew Germany were going to come out, we didn’t really know what to expect. new manager, a lot of changes in their squad, that just showcases how good they are.”
The hosts fell behind within four minutes after Giovanna Hoffmann latched onto Leah Williamson’s sloppy pass and teed up Klara Buhl to charge in on goal, before Millie Bright hauled the Germany striker down in the box for an early penalty.
Hannah Hampton guessed the right way but could not thwart Giulia Gwinn’s powerful strike. And the German full-back had her second just seven minutes later, pouncing on more poor defending from Wiegman’s side.
England’s entire back four shifted to the right-hand side of the pitch to deal with the incoming attack, allowing Gwinn to move into the gaping void and charge onto Buhl’s excellent, searching cross-field pass. The Bayern Munich defender fired an excellent, low effort in off the far post to double the visitors’ lead.
And matters were made even worse for the Lionesses just before the half-hour mark, as Buhl grabbed a goal for herself – cutting in from the left before firing a thunderous finish past Hampton, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to it.
But the three-goal deficit seemed to ignite England, and in particular Stanway, who cut the deficit to two with a powerful penalty on 33 minutes after Lauren Hemp’s cross hit the arm of the sliding Gwinn.
Stanway grabbed her second just three minutes later to bring Wiegman’s side firmly back into contention, capping off a fine move from Beth Mead’s cross after she was picked out on the flank by Arsenal team-mate Alessia Russo.
Ella Toone had time and space to find an equaliser minutes before the interval, but spurned her effort, while Linda Dallmann had a stunning strike from around 40 yards tipped onto the crossbar by Hampton moments later.
Stanway said England had to adjust their set-up to “be more compact” after the break, but felt her side were unfortunate to be on the wrong end of the half-time scoreline.
“We had to adjust our shape,” she said. “We had to be more compact. As soon as we changed our shape we were able to get compact, able to regain the ball more, intercept the ball and obviously we got them a few time son the counter attack.
“I think the first half result was a little bit generous. Both sides I think it could have been 5-5 going in at half-time. I wouldn’t say we were the weaker team, but obviously the result went their side.”
The frantic first-half action stalled somewhat in the second, despite Jule Brand seemingly extending Germany’s lead five minutes after the break before the offside flag was eventually raised.
Brand carved out another chance on the hour mark after a magnificent run, but she could not find a way past Hampton.
There was panic in the England defence whenever Germany strayed forward, and the visitors sealed victory 18 minutes from time after a stray Russo leg brought down Sophie Wolter in the box. Dabritz slammed home from 12 yards to restore the two-goal cushion.
Hemp looked to have brought England back into the match after charging in behind and firing home on 77 minutes, but she was adjudged to have made her run too early with the offside flag raised.
But England did manage to cut Germany’s lead once more, as Ann-Katrin Berger made a howling mistake from Hemp’s free-kick to gift Bronze an easy tap-in.
The hosts were well on top in the latter stages but could not find the all-important goal, with poor defending ultimately proving their undoing in the two sides’ first meeting since England’s Euro 2022 triumph.
Stanway disputed claims that England were not at the races at Wembley, but said the match was just one step in a “long process” towards next year’s Euros.
“Germany are good, we can’t back away from the fact they’re a world class team,” the England midfielder said. “They’ve won many trophies in the past and starting a new campaign just like we are.
“Obviously, we know we have things to work on, we need to review this and see what to change. As a whole I don’t think we need to be disappointed too much.
“This is the start of what’s going to be a long year, we have a long process to be able to be right for the Euros next year.”