England women bounce back from Brazil defeat with 3-0 friendly win over Australia

LONDON: England’s Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway scored in a 3-0 victory over 10-player Australia in a friendly on Tuesday at Derby’s Pride Park, as the European champion bounced back from its 2-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday.

The friendly was overshadowed by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to Michelle Agyemang, who was carried off on a stretcher.

In the first meeting between the two teams since England dispatched Australia in the semifinals of the 2023 World Cup, Beever-Jones struck in the 20th minute when her free kick hit the wall, and Bronze passed the ball back out to her for a powerful shot into the top corner.

Bronze doubled its lead in the 40th minute when she latched onto a pass from Ella Toone and struck from near the penalty spot. The fans serenaded Bronze, who turned 34 on Tuesday, with “Happy Birthday to You!”

England was awarded a penalty at the death after Katrina Gorry’s sliding challenge on Missy Bo Kearns. Stanway coolly fired home from the spot for a decisive England victory.

Australia was reduced to 10 players in the 19th minute when Alanna Kennedy was shown a red card for tugging down Alessia Russo. Agencies

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