England suffered their worst defeat of Sarina Wiegman’s reign as a nightmare evening was compounded by a serious head injury to Alex Greenwood.
The Lionesses hopes of topping their Nations League group and qualifying for the Olympics is now out of their hands, but the 13-minute stoppage for Greenwood, who was taken off on a stretcher, was of equal concern.
The Lionesses bench looked immediately worried when Greenwood went down in the 19th minute following a collision with Jassina Blom. Six paramedics and four members of England’s medial team attended to the defender, who was given oxygen.
Greenwood was placed in a neck brace as she went off but was seen squeezing the hand of team-mate Millie Bright as she left the pitch. UEFA’s rules do not allow for concussion substitutes, which exist in the Women’s Super League, with England boss Sarina Wiegman calling for ‘consistency’.
Greenwood, one of the stars of England’s World Cup campaign, was conscious and walking by full-time but was heavily missed in defence as her team-mates capitualted on a miserable night in Leuven.
A disappointing loss for England was compounded by the worrying injury of Alex Greenwood
Greenwood went down in the 19th minute following a collision with Jassina Blom
Greenwood was attended to by medical staff on the pitch for roughly 13 minutes
While it was a worrying scene, a subsequent post from the Lionesses’ official X account said Greenwood was ‘conscious and talking, and… being monitored by our medical staff.’
And Wiegman said of the Manchester City player: ‘I haven’t talked to the medical staff yet… She’s alright – when she’s walking, she’s alright.’
‘Of course we’re very disappointed, frustrated too. I think this was unnecessary,’ Wiegman added when reflecting on the game itself.
‘We were too sloppy. We were in possession so much more than they were, and we did create so many chances, but we are struggling to get the ball in the net.
‘We have work to do.’
Belgium had taken an unlikely lead eight minutes before Greenwood’s withdrawal when Laura De Neve’s free-kick deceived England’s five-player wall and goalkeeper Mary Earps to end up in the bottom right corner.
England were level shortly after Greenwood left the pitch, as Chloe Kelly’s free-kick picked out Lucy Bronze, who sent a header into the top right corner.
The Lionesses then took the lead through a well-worked team goal. Keira Walsh played in Lauren Hemp down the left. She cut the ball back to Fran Kirby, who placed a calm finish into the bottom right corner.
A rare bright note on the evening was Fran Kirby’s goal on her return to the squad after injury
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The win sees Belgium leapfrog England into second place of the Nations League group
Sarina Wiegman admitted that her team were sloppy in possession as fell to defeat
But England were the constructs of their own downfall as they gifted Belgium an equaliser in added time. Justine Vanhaevermaet pounced on Georgia Stanway’s loose pass to play in Tessa Wullaert, who finished smartly past Earps.
England controlled possession but struggled to break down a resolute Belgian defence and needed a big save from Earps to deny Wullaert on the hour mark.
But Earps could do nothing to prevent Wullaert scoring the winner from the penalty spot in the 85th minute after Stanway had been penalised for handball.
The result means England’s fate is out of their hands. They will need to beat the Netherlands and Scotland in December and hope Belgium drop points in their remaining fixtures.