England captain Leah Williamson scored but also made an error which led to a South African goal in a friendly victory at Coventry.
It was an important victory for England, who was beaten 4-3 by Germany Friday, but defensive errors remained.
Williamson, who only returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in January, has struggled to find his form this season and was under scrutiny.
She was one of three players who retained their place in Sarina Wiegman’s team and gave a perfect response by opening the scoring in the first half.
But it was a mixed night for the Lionesses captain as it was her loose pass to midfielder Georgia Stanway that set up Thembi Kgatlana’s second-half goal for South Africa.
It was a moment that made England’s evening a little less comfortable, having led 2-0 when Grace Clinton headed in a Maya le Tissier cross.
However, Wiegman’s much-changed team showed plenty of creativity and confidence on offense, despite continued struggles on defense.
Tottenham’s Jess Naz – making her first England start – had an assist, while Manchester City’s Jess Park was busy and assured.
Chloe Kelly, struggling for playing time at City this season, showed her desire to regain her place in the starting XI and hit the crossbar in the second half.
Overall, it was a disjointed performance considering all the changes, but one that will give Wiegman food for thought and further highlight that England need to improve defensively ahead of next summer’s Euro 2025 tournament in Switzerland .
The defense still worrying but the young English shine
Wiegman has faced questions over her team selection in recent weeks with Williamson at centre, given the impressive form of Manchester City’s Alex Greenwood – an obvious replacement.
Greenwood was brought into the team to play alongside Williamson, but this did little to improve England’s defensive performances as individual errors were constant and almost costly.
Stanway’s slow response to Williamson’s pass did not help, and the Bayern Munich midfielder had already been involved in a mix-up with Esme Morgan which presented Hildah Magaia with an opportunity which she was unable to grab in the first half.
Wiegman made numerous changes throughout the second half, bringing on experienced defenders Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright, but South Africa continued to cause concern.
Bronze was caught by a ball over the top but was fortunate that Kgatlana was offside, just before Bronze had to step up to block another strike from the South African striker.
England’s defensive performance against Germany was heavily criticized, and this display at Coventry left little doubt that they had learned from their mistakes.
But it was also a promising night for the future as many of England’s youngsters took the opportunity to impress and continued to put pressure on Wiegman’s regular starters.
Clinton, who linked up with Manchester United captain Le Tissier to double England’s first-half lead, impressed once again, while Park and Naz looked comfortable on the international stage.
Although England still have a lot of work to do to defend their European title, it shows that Wiegman has a wide range of talent at his disposal – the puzzle remains to put it all together.
Bigger tests are still to come in November with a Wembley showdown against Olympic champions the United States – managed by former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes – before another friendly against Switzerland to round out the year.
