Sarina Wiegman's side had their shot-stopper to thank on Saturday, with her saves preventing the European champions from defeat at Wembley
For all the hype and excitement, Emma Hayes' return to England as the Lionesses faced her United States women's national team on Saturday night ended in a disappointingly uneventful 0-0 draw, one particularly underwhelming for the majority of the 78,346 inside Wembley Stadium. This was the biggest home crowd the reigning European champions had played in front of for over 18 months and yet, they had very little to shout about.
Instead, it was Mary Earps who stole the show, forced into a string of strong saves in a first half that saw England fail to create any chance of note. First from Alyssa Thompson and then from Casey Krueger, Earps stood tall to keep her team in a game they were struggling to make any positive impact on.
That improved a little after the break, albeit not dramatically, with visiting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher only having to make one perfectly-routine stop all evening. England may have had stars missing for this big game, with Lauren Hemp, Lauren James and Ella Toone all sidelined, but that will struggle to stand up as an excuse for such a toothless performance when contrasted with the brighter moments the U.S. had, despite Hayes being without all of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson.
GOAL rates the Lionesses' players from Wembley Stadium…
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Mary Earps (8/10):
Made some terrific saves in a stand-out performance.
Lucy Bronze (7/10):
A well-balanced display down the right, with some positive contributions in attack but a particularly well done job in defence.
Leah Williamson (7/10):
Popped up in the right place at the right time more than once to swat away danger.
Alex Greenwood (6/10):
Reacted well to stop Williams scoring a tap-in midway through the first half. Had to adapt to being moved to the left in the second half and rightly survived a handball penalty shout, thanks to VAR.
Jess Carter (6/10):
Not a natural at left-back and that showed with how reluctant she was to get forward. Came up with some important interventions defensively, though.
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Keira Walsh (5/10):
Failed to help England control the game, with the U.S. dictating things from the get go.
Georgia Stanway (5/10):
Worked hard but struggled to make an impact.
Jess Park (4/10):
Tried to make things happen but, often, they just didn't come off.
AFPAttack
Beth Mead (4/10):
An underwhelming evening for her, with too many loose passes in her own half.
Alessia Russo (5/10):
Made some good runs and looked sharp when involved, it was just that England didn't get the ball to her anywhere near enough.
Jess Naz (4/10):
Didn't have enough touches to make any impact.
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Chloe Kelly (5/10):
England's first sub in the 75th minute, she struggled to get into the game in the time she was on the pitch.
Fran Kirby (6/10):
On alongside Kelly, she immediately played a good ball out wide that injected some life in attack. Didn't have enough time to truly impact the game, though.
Sarina Wiegman (4/10):
A somewhat predictable and routine starting line-up resulted in an extremely flat first half, with England unable to create anything of note while Earps was called upon time after time. Things improved a little after the break, but that Wiegman waited until the 75th minute to make a sub in a game that was crying out for a spark was puzzling.