Key events
Suzanne Wrack’s report
Sarina Wiegman’s verdict
Here’s what it means to Jess Park
Table of Contents
Full time: England 4-0 Japan
Peep peep! It’s another brilliant night for England, who have hammered a good Japan side. The game took a while to get going, but when it did England’s intensity and dynamism were too much. Rachel Daly, Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone all scored – and then Jess Park, who had only just come on for her debut, provided the feelgood moment of the night.
Jess Park owes a thank you to Ebony Salmon, who bullied Minami off the ball near the touchline, moved into the area and slid the ball towards Park, arriving late in the six-yard box. It was slightly behind her, but Park put the brakes on to control it and then clipped it gleefully into the empty net.
GOAL! England 4-0 Japan (Park 90+1)
Jess Park scores within two minutes of coming on for her England debut!
89 min Jess Park comes on for her England debut in place of Georgia Stanway, and Katie Zelem replaces Keira Walsh.
87 min Japan are pushing hard for a consolation goal. Hasegawa has a pop from 25 yards, but it’s too close to Earps and she holds on comfortably.
84 min A Japan corner breaks for Nagano, whose snapshot is blocked by Daly.
83 min England bring on Nikita Parris for Ella Toone.
80 min Another half chance for Japan, with Fujino’s shot well blocked by Charles.
79 min Endo (I think) has a close-range shot well blocked.
The two substitutes played a big part in the goal. James charged thrillingly down the left, cut infield and tried to find Stanway with a square ball. It was deflected towards Salmon, who slid a classy reverse pass to put Toone through on goal. She sensed Yamashita would go down and clipped the ball confidently into the net off the far post.
GOAL! England 3-0 Japan (Toone 77)
Ella Toone makes it three with a lovely goal!
76 min Hasegawa’s free-kick is headed behind by Bright, but England get a free-kick because Tanaka was offside.
75 min Now Daly fouls Tanaka just outside the area. It’s a fair way to the left of centre, but still a chance for Japan…
73 min Bright gets a warning from the referee after taking out Tanaka.
73 min As often happens in friendlies, the substitutions have disrupted the flow of the game. Very little has happened in the last 10 minutes.
71 min Two more changes for Japan. Saori Takarada and the teenager Aoba Fujino replace Miyazawa and Miyake.
68 min The two full debutants, Niamh Charles and Esme Morgan, have quietly had very solid games in defence. I think Mary Earps has only had one save to make.
64 min A double change for England: Lauren James and Ebony Salmon replace Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly.
62 min Miyazawa almost gets the wrong side of Bright in the area, but Bright gets round to make an important challenge.
62 min Stanway fires a sharp pass into Russo, whose shot is too close to Yamashita. It came at her quickly and she couldn’t sort her foot out in time. But England are playing some good stuff now.
61 min For once Kelly takes the wrong option, smashing over the bar from a tight angle when Stanway and others were in a decent position.
59 min Japan bring on Mina Tamaka for Mana Iwabuchi.
58 min Endo, on the left side of the area, makes just enough room for an imaginative cross-shot that flashes across goal. That looked pretty close.
56 min It took a while for England to really get going, but either side of half-time they have been excellent.
GOAL! England 2-0 Japan (Kelly 53)
Chloe Kelly has doubled England’s lead with a cracking finish! Walsh started the move with a lovely lofted pass to release Mead on the right. Her low cross was too far in front of Russo, but Kelly arrived on the far side to crash a first-time shot past Yamashita at the near post.
52 min: Chance for Daly! An inventive short corner from England ends with Daly smashing over from 12 yards. That was a good opportunity.
51 min Mead’s pass is half blocked and runs towards Toone, whose first-time shot is well blocked by the sliding Miyake (I think).
49 min Miyazawa runs menacingly at a backpedalling England defence, but her through pass to Hasegawa is poor and Morgan intercepts.
47 min Russo is limping slightly after an accidental collision with Hasegawa. I think she’ll be okay though.
46 min Peep peep! Japan begin the second half; neither side has many any half-time changes.
Half time: England 1-0 Japan
Peep peep! England lead through an opportunistic finish from the right-back Rachel Daly. They’ve been the more dangerous team in a decent game between two obviously accomplished sides. See you in 15 minutes for the second half.
45 min Earps backpedals desperately to palm the corner away, an effective bit of goalkeeping.
44 min Iwabuchi’s free-kick hits the wall and deflects behind for a corner.
44 min Bright is a bit too aggressive while jostling Iwabuchi, and Japan have a free-kick 25 yards from goal. It’s slightly to the left of centre…