England¡¯s Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway scored in a 3-0 victory over 10-player Australia in a friendly on Tuesday at Derby¡¯s Pride Park, as the European champions bounced back from their 2-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday.
The friendly was overshadowed by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to Michelle Agyemang, who was carried off on a stretcher.
In the first meeting between the two teams since England dispatched Australia in the semifinals of the 2023 World Cup, Beever-Jones struck in the 20th minute when her free kick hit the wall and Bronze passed the ball back out to her for a powerful shot into the top corner.
Bronze doubled the lead in the 40th minute when she latched onto a pass from Ella Toone and struck from near the penalty spot. The fans serenaded Bronze, who turned 34 on Tuesday, with ¡°Happy Birthday to You!¡±
England was awarded a penalty at the death after Katrina Gorry¡¯s sliding challenge on Missy Bo Kearns. Stanway coolly fired home from the spot for a decisive England victory.
Australia was reduced to 10 players in the 19th minute when Alanna Kennedy was shown a red card for tugging down Alessia Russo.
The 19-year-old Agyemang, who played a key role in England¡¯s European Championship victory, crumpled to the ground with an injury that occurred off the ball late in the game, with England manager Sarina Wiegman calling the prognosis ¡°not very positive.¡±
¡°Of course it was an awful moment, it doesn¡¯t look good,¡± said Wiegman, who had not yet received a medical report. ¡°We don¡¯t know yet but I¡¯m not very positive about what I¡¯ve seen.¡±
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