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| Eniola Aluko hits her eighth qualifying goal as England Women beat Belarus | Eniola Aluko hits her eighth qualifying goal as England Women beat Belarus |
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| The Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko scored her eighth goal of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign to set Mark Sampson’s team on the road to maintaining their 100% group record and putting themselves well within sight of reaching next year’s finals in Canada. | The Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko scored her eighth goal of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign to set Mark Sampson’s team on the road to maintaining their 100% group record and putting themselves well within sight of reaching next year’s finals in Canada. |
| Six hours before Roy Hodgson’s men’s team face Italy in their World Cup opener in Manaus, the England women eased to a comfortable victory against Belarus in Minsk and now need only four points from their final three qualifiers to ensure a place in what would be their third successive world finals. | Six hours before Roy Hodgson’s men’s team face Italy in their World Cup opener in Manaus, the England women eased to a comfortable victory against Belarus in Minsk and now need only four points from their final three qualifiers to ensure a place in what would be their third successive world finals. |
| The captain, Steph Houghton, and her central defensive partner, Lucy Bronze, with her first international goal, were the other scorers, with Bronze’s Liverpool colleague Fara Williams providing the assists for all three goals. | The captain, Steph Houghton, and her central defensive partner, Lucy Bronze, with her first international goal, were the other scorers, with Bronze’s Liverpool colleague Fara Williams providing the assists for all three goals. |
| Aluko and the Birmingham City winger Karen Carney both had early shots saved by the goalkeeper Inna Botyanovskaya as England pressed from the kick-off. The Liverpool striker Natasha Dowie then missed a good scoring opportunity and Aluko had a header cleared off the line before she opened the scoring on the half-hour, collecting a Williams through ball to shoot home. | Aluko and the Birmingham City winger Karen Carney both had early shots saved by the goalkeeper Inna Botyanovskaya as England pressed from the kick-off. The Liverpool striker Natasha Dowie then missed a good scoring opportunity and Aluko had a header cleared off the line before she opened the scoring on the half-hour, collecting a Williams through ball to shoot home. |
| The midfielder Williams was then the provider for the second goal, this time pulling a 36th minute free-kick across the penalty area for the Manchester City defender Houghton to spear a shot just inside the post. Further goals might have followed before the interval but Aluko, Houghton and the Birmingham midfielder Jade Moore all had efforts stopped by Botyanovskaya. | |
| England were unable to maintain the intensity of their attacking in the second half and rarely looked like adding to their lead. Houghton went close with a long-range free-kick and the substitute Lianne Sanderson wasted a good opening before the Belarus midfielder Hanna Kozyupa forced the goalkeeper Karen Bardsley into her first save of note, in the 90th minute. | England were unable to maintain the intensity of their attacking in the second half and rarely looked like adding to their lead. Houghton went close with a long-range free-kick and the substitute Lianne Sanderson wasted a good opening before the Belarus midfielder Hanna Kozyupa forced the goalkeeper Karen Bardsley into her first save of note, in the 90th minute. |
| Bronze’s goal arrived in the fifth minute of stoppage time, the central defender drilling in a close-range shot from Williams’s corner. | Bronze’s goal arrived in the fifth minute of stoppage time, the central defender drilling in a close-range shot from Williams’s corner. |
| The result took Sampson’s side’s impressive group record to seven wins, with 36 goals scored and none conceded. They top group six, five points ahead of second in the table Wales after the striker Sarah Wiltshire’s goal gave the Welsh a 1-0 win against Turkey at Haverfordwest on Saturday. Both teams have three group games remaining and both will be expected to win their next fixtures, England in Ukraine on Thursday and Wales in Belarus on the same afternoon. | The result took Sampson’s side’s impressive group record to seven wins, with 36 goals scored and none conceded. They top group six, five points ahead of second in the table Wales after the striker Sarah Wiltshire’s goal gave the Welsh a 1-0 win against Turkey at Haverfordwest on Saturday. Both teams have three group games remaining and both will be expected to win their next fixtures, England in Ukraine on Thursday and Wales in Belarus on the same afternoon. |