Alessia Russo believes England returned to the levels they are capable of after Tuesday’s important 2-1 Euro 2025 qualifying victory over France.
The Lionesses recovered from a disappointing loss in Friday’s reverse fixture as first-half goals from Georgia Stanway and Russo saw them to victory in Saint-Etienne.
The result moves them two points behind group leaders France to leave proceedings finally poised ahead of July’s final two qualifiers.
“I think we got our standards back to where we want them,” Russo told ITV Sport. “There were still parts we want to work on for sure, but that was a performance we want to keep going forward.
“We know the level’s higher than ever. To do anything at the Euros, to even qualify, will be harder than ever. We’re proud, we’ll have a bit of a rest and then we’re back in July for a really massive camp.
“We just spoke as a team then. We know our standards have to be higher, we’ve probably let them slip a little bit in these past few qualifiers, but we know the talent we have, we know the potential we have as a group and we saw a lot more flashes of it tonight.”
England had been below par during Friday evening’s 2-1 loss to France but turned in an impressive first-half display and led 2-0 inside 35 minutes on Tuesday.
Stanway arrowed home a sweet strike from the edge of the area after being teed up Lauren Hemp to open the scoring after 21 minutes. Hemp was again the provider as the Lionesses doubled their advantage before half time, with her delivery glanced past Pauline Peyraud-Magnin in the France goal by Russo.
France made two half-time substitutes, with Delphine Cascarino and Sandie Toletti replacing Sakina Karchaoui and Amandine Henry, and the hosts were much improved in the second period. They halved the deficit with 18 minutes of normal time remaining as Marie-Antoinette Katoto converted from the penalty spot after Leah Williamson had fouled Grace Geyoro.
The game became stretched in the latter stages as France pushed for an equaliser. Hannah Hampton, an addition to England’s starting lineup following Mary Earps’ injury-enforced absence, tipped a Katoto effort from close range around the post as the clock ticked down to preserve the Lionesses’ advantage.
Sarina Wiegman labelled England’s first-half display as one of the best of her tenure, but admitted disappointment in the way France were able to come back into the game in the second period.
“We worked so hard to stay together and keep the win but more things gave me some joy tonight I have to say,” Wiegman said.
“(In the second half) they were really chasing us and we have to make better decisions and being a little calmer. We played into their hands a little bit and we know when they have the ball they are so quick. We want to take those moments out of course.
“Most of all we did better than Friday. Friday we played parts of the game really good too but in finally third and in our own final third with the corners we didn’t do well. Today we conceded the first corner (after around) 70 minutes so that was already a lot better.
“I think the first half that’s one of our best halves we’ve ever played.”
The result leaves England third in Group A3 on seven points from four games, behind second place Sweden on goal difference. France remain top on nine points.
The top two in the group automatically qualify for Euro 2025, while third and fourth must navigate the play-offs.
“We are in a better position now and the group is open,” Wiegman added. “We said from the beginning this is a really tough group with top level teams.”
England return to qualifying action against the Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road on July 12 and conclude their campaign Sweden in Gothenburg on July 16.
(Jeff Pachoud/AFP via Getty Images)
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