Key events
Sarina Wiegman’s verdict
I’m pleased with the win, and at times we played really well. They started aggressively but we stayed calm.
We also have things to work on. At times we weren’t tight enough and didn’t move the ball quickly enough. We could have scored so many more goals. And of course I’m not happy with the goal we conceded.
[On Maya Le Tissier’s goal] She’s really improving her game. She’s more comfortable, she covered a lot of space today and she played really high up the pitch.
Tom Garry
Leah Williamson and Sarina Wiegman have been locked in a lengthy conversation on the pitch. For more than five minutes, they have been chatting. That’s unusual.
Georgia Stanway’s reaction
It was difficult, actually. It was a bit more transitional than we hoped, which is something we’ll try to minimise in the second leg.
We wanted to fill the pockets as much as possible and try to make their back line jump out. I had some good chances and could maybe have scored more than one.
Tom Garry
As the England players go over to thank the 500 travelling fans, the players seem relatively muted with their celebrations. They know that wasn’t their best performance, that’s for sure. There are some positives to take but also plenty of fairly worrying periods of mediocrity against a weak Greece side who have most recently been playing in the third tier of the Nations League.
Maya Le Tissier’s reaction
Yeah it was good [to score her first England goal]. I just smacked it!
[On her more attacking role] I enjoyed it. I love defending as well; I’ll try to give my best whatever position I play.
We wanted to come her and get the win. Bit gutted to concede a goal but we’re in a good position going into the game on Tuesday.
Full time: Greece 1-3 England
Mead turns Hemp’s cross wide from eight yards, though she was offside so it wouldn’t have counted. That’s the last kick of the game.
It was a predictably comfortable night for England in Crete. Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo scored the goals, and there could have been more before the impressive Kallisti Brouksair pulled one back for Greece.
Unless they redefine ineptitude in the second leg on Tuesday, England will go through to the final playoff round. Chances are they will meet Ukraine, who won 3-1 away to Slovakia tonight.
90+1 min: England substitution Esme Morgan is replaced by Grace Fisk, who makes her international debut at the age of 28.
Four minutes of added time.
90 min: Park hits the bar! England cut Greece open on the break. Mead plays a simple pass through to Park, who blisters a shot off of the underside of the crossbar.
Actually, I think Park was offside so it wouldn’t have counted.
87 min: Greece substitutions Grigoria Pouliou and Ilektra Tzourtzevits come on for Sarri and Papatheodorou.
87 min The diving Mead heads Walsh’s cross over the bar.
85 min: England substitution Erica Meg Parkinson, aged 18, comes on to make her England debut. Lauren James is going off.
83 min Another long-range effort from James, this time with her left foot, drifts a couple of yards wide.
79 min A lovely effort from James, a clipped shot on the run from the edge of the D, goes this far wide.
78 min: Greece substiution Sofia Kongouli replaces Eleftheria Drakogiannaki.
GOAL! Greece 1-3 England (Brouksair 77)
Kallisti Brouksair scores Greece’s first goal against England. Morgan allowed a long ball to bounce, and from that moment England were in a bit of trouble. Papatheodorou found Brouksair, who beat Williamson with a stepover and drove a firm left-foot shot into the far corner. Excellent goal.
75 min Mead’s snapshot is kept out desperately by Petaloti.
73 min: England substitution Jess Park replaces Alessia Russo, who made one and scored one. A good night’s work.
70 min Petaloti is beaten to an angled cross by Hemp, who hooks the ball back into the six-yard box. Petaloti has to charge back towards her own goal to claim.
69 min: Greece substitutions Eleni Saich and Georgia Chalatsogianni replace Efthimia Brame and Athanasia Moraitou.
GOAL! Greece 0-3 England (Russo 67)
Alessia Russo gets on the scoresheet with a typically precise finish. She gave the ball to Mead on the right, received the return and dragged a low shot on the turn that beat Petaloti to her right.
65 min Mead shoots wide from 22 yards, then Stanway curls wide after a high press from England. Greece are starting to look tired.
Lucy Bronze would have been proud of that. Walsh received a square pass 25 yards from goal, worked the angle and found Le Tissier on the right side of the area. She got the ball out of her feet and lashed a rising drive that was too hot for Petaloti. She got a touch but could only push the ball into the roof of the net.
GOAL! Greece 0-2 England (Le Tissier 63)
Maya Le Tissier smashes her first goal for England!
58 min: Good save by Petaloti! James strolls past a couple of defenders, as only she can, and pokes an angled pass to Le Tissier on the right side of the area. She curls a rising shot that is batted round the near post by the diving Petaloti.
56 min A 1-0 lead away from home in a two-legged tie is never a bad thing, but most people expected England to be more dominant than this.
It’s often the way in such games: not many goals for the first hour, then a shedload at the end.
55 min Mead is offside when she runs onto a clever through pass from Greenwood. That’s probably a blessing because she lost her footing and could only poke the ball straight at Petaloti.
52 min Hampton makes a simple save from a far-post header. Not that it would have counted: the flag went up for offside as soon as the ball was dead.
50 min James curls a pass over the top of the Greece defence. Mead makes a fine run, out to in, but can’t control an awkward dropping ball on the edge of the area.
49 min A quiet start to the second half.
46 min England have made a half-time substitution: Beth Mead on, Laura Blindkilde Brown off.
Half-time reading
Half time: Greece 0-1 England
A comfortable first half for England in Crete. They had a scare when Ioanna Papatheodorou hit the crossbar after a 60-yard run, but that aside it was one-way traffic.
Lauren James had a goal disallowed and Lauren Hemp drove just wide before Georgia Stanway finished off a sharp move involving Keira Walsh, Laura Blindkilde Brown and Alessia Russo.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
42 min Stanway mishits a long-range shot well wide.
41 min Lauren James almost makes it 2-0, flipping a left-foot shot just wide of the far post after a smart turn. It was a tough chance.
That’s how to play in tight spaces. Walsh started the incision, feeding a pass into Stanway on the edge of the D. She flicked it to Blindkilde Brown, who moved it on quickly to Russo in the area. Russo cushioned a lovely pass into the path of Stanway, who slid a first-time finish past Petaloti. Very good goal.
GOAL! Greece 0-1 England (Stanway 39)
England take the lead with an excellent team goal.
37 min It’s been a frustrating half for England. The rhythm and tempo of their passing have been pretty good; they’re just not creating chances.
34 min: Papatheodorou hits the crossbar!
Ioanna Papatheodorou almost scores the goal of her life. She received the ball halfway inside the Greece half, turned Morgan smoothly and charged at a backpedalling defence. She beat Williamson and then Hemp before driving a flat chip from 22 yards. It beat Hampton and thumped off the crossbar. What an effort!
33 min A rare Greece attack when Brouksair beats Le Tissier and drives a cross that is claimed by Hampton.
