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Leah Williamson and Grace Clinton scored in the first half to help England edge to a 2-1 victory over South Africa in Coventry.
England’s fast start was in contrast to their 4-3 defeat to Germany on Friday, which saw them three down in the first half-hour. Williamson’s goal on the occasion of her 50th cap gave England reward for their dominance before Clinton slammed home a header to give the Lionesses a two-goal lead heading into the break.
That was as good as it got for the hosts, who took their foot off the gas in the second period. Their defence has been questioned in recent months and they were unable to keep a clean sheet against a side 50th in the Fifa world rankings as Thembi Kgatlana halved the deficit.
England returned to winning ways but it was not the most comfortable of victories as Kgatlana saw a goal ruled out for offside and was later denied on several occasions as England held on for victory.
Sarina Wiegman made eight changes from the Germany clash. Georgia Stanway was on the scoresheet twice last week and kept her place alongside Williamson and Beth Mead while the likes of Chloe Kelly, Mary Earps and Alex Greenwood were recalled.
Unlike Friday’s defeat at Wembley, the Lionesses started on the front foot and got their rewards for a sharp opening in the 12th minute courtesy of skipper Williamson.
Jess Naz was first to react from a corner and teed up the Arsenal defender, who was able to get the ball out of her feet and stroke into the bottom corner.
The visitors were almost on level terms straight away – Esme Morgan was caught napping deep in her own half and Kgatlana’s initial effort was blocked into the path of Hildah Magaia, who was unable to poke home as Clinton got back from midfield to apply pressure.
England doubled their advantage in the 23rd minute as Maya Le Tissier perfectly picked out Manchester United teammate Clinton who scored with a powerful downward header.
Wiegman’s side did not have it all their own way though – Kgatlana got in behind England’s defence and Williamson was called upon to deal with the danger.
England were punished for a lacklustre start to the second period. Williamson’s loose pass allowed Kgatlana to run through on goal and she finished beyond Earps in cool fashion to make it 2-1.
The Lionesses were inches away from re-establishing their two goal cushion as Kelly shimmied past a couple of defenders and let fly from distance but saw her effort rattle off the crossbar.
Another Williamson mistake allowed the menacing Kgatlana to run free again and she passed across to Magaia whose shot was blocked.
Against all the odds, South Africa thought they were on level terms – once again, Kgatlana got in behind the back line and struck beyond Earps, only for the assistant referee’s offside flag to correctly cut the celebrations short.
England simply could not handle Kgatlana in the second period and substitute Lucy Bronze had to block one effort behind before Earps was called into action a couple of minutes later as England held on.
Post-match Wiegman praised the performances of Clinton and Naz telling ITV: “It’s what you want to see. It’s different when you start than when you come on to the pitch. Jess [Naz] stretched the pitch in behind. Grace [Clinton] started well. She was in the pockets and she was there to head in the cross.”
The England boss was less enthusiastic about the overall display and pinpointed England’s ‘sloppiness’ as an area of concern. She added: “I thought after the first half it would be more straightforward. We played well in the first half, we had some stronger moments.
“We were a little too sloppy but we created some chances from corners. We scored a very good goal. Second half we got there but we were a little sloppy. They were smart on the counterattack and it was hard for us.
“We need to keep trying, keep playing football, keep playing forwards. Just feeling at the moment in transition, they really jumped on us. Just talk about it and move forward.”
