Agyemang injury for England deflates Bronze’s birthday celebrations against Matildas

The chorus of Happy Birthday echoed around Pride Park after England’s Euro 2025 warrior Lucy Bronze had fired in England’s second against Australia, but the party mood was marred by a nasty looking knee injury to a distraught Michelle Agyemang .

It was better from the Lionesses in Derby, a more structured and controlled performance than the one on display in the 2-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday night, Aggie Beever-Jones and Georgia Stanway scoring either side of Bronze’s effort. Whether that was the change in personnel and positions, or just that the cobwebs needed to be shaken off in the first fixture since their big win in Switzerland before things started to click into place is hard to say.

Either way, there were many positives to take from the 3-0 win over the side they knocked out of the World Cup in 2023 at the semi-final stage. Agyemang’s injury was the sour note as both teams ended up with 10 players on the pitch, Australia’s Alanna Kennedy was sent off shortly before England’s first goal for Australia and Beever-Jones needed to come off after England had used up all their substitutions.

It had been expected that Sarina Wiegman would shuffle her pack a little and she did. Debuts were handed to Lucia Kendall and Taylor Hinds , Beever-Jones started on the left alongside Alessia Russo and Beth Mead, while goalkeeper Hannah Hampton returned to the starting XI having shaken off her elbow issue. Kendall had been diplomatic in a sit-down with journalists at the start of this international window, the 21-year-old was “just here to learn as much as possible,” she said, expectations of minutes low. Yet, in her first start, following her first call-up, the Southampton academy graduate looked a natural fit playing in the middle alongside Keira Walsh and Ella Toone . She held her own against 2023 World Cup stars Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross and demonstrated a composure beyond her years in the middle, her physicality and positioning particularly promising.

Fellow debutant Hinds was similarly impressive. Pitted against Chelsea’s dynamic right-back Ellie Carpenter she coped well.

England had promised a faster start in front of 26,544 fans at Pride Park and they delivered that.

The hosts almost took the lead in the 13th minute when Beever-Jones clipped the ball over visiting goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold after the ball had fallen kindly to her in the box, but the flag was straight up to deny England’s top goalscorer for 2024-25.

Australia were struggling to handle England and they were dealt a big blow five minutes later. Cooney-Cross played a short pass to Alanna Kennedy and the London City Lionesses defender was robbed of the ball by Alessia Russo who stepped towards the edge of the box with just the goalkeeper to beat before Kennedy upended her. Kennedy was given her marching orders for the rash decision and, while the initial free-kick was powered low into the wall, Bronze was on hand to push it back to Beever-Jones who fired in.

It was a deserved lead and a welcome one, England’s profligacy having been a frustration for some timesince their summer celebrations.

Wiegman’s side extended their lead shortly before the break, Walsh’s defence-splitting pass found Toone and the Manchester United midfielder flicked it back towards an unmarked Bronze to power in.

It would be Bronze’s last action and her first 45 minutes played since her return from the tibia break she played in during the Euros, with her Chelsea teammate Niamh Charles replacing her at half-time.

It was flatter after the break, the cushion earned, and a quadruple substitution from the hosts arrived just after the hour mark with experimentation high on the agenda of this four-game “Homecoming Series” and legs rested ahead of a return to club football. On came Stanway, Missy Bo Kearns, Agyemang and Alex Greenwood, with Arsenal forward Agyemang going closest to extending the lead further. Mead’s powerful low ball into the middle was too strong for the forward to untangle in time to direct it rather than deflect it towards Arnold.

Sam Kerr exited in the 70th minute, the Chelsea forward restricted to one shot in that time by a more solid-looking England.

A lengthy stoppage for the injury to Agyemang then marred proceedings, the Arsenal forward distraught after she went down off the ball before being led down the tunnel on a stretcher – a concerned Wiegman stopping to say something to the 19-year-old as she passed. Beever-Jones signalled she needed to come off soon after, and with five changes already made, the hosts played the remainder as a 10 v 10 affair.

It was comfortable for England in the end, a penalty from Stanway sealing the 3-0 win after Kearns was tripped in the box.

The fluidity had been disrupted a little by the many changes and the lengthy injury stoppage, but it was a performance offering plenty to learn from. They will be looked at in the coming days, but concern for Euro 2025 starlet Agyemang will dominate as teammates and fans alike wait for news regarding the extent of her injury.

Header image: [Photograph: Nick Potts/PA]