Manchester United’s Ella Toone was the hero of the hour for the Lionesses as she scored an injury time winner to secure an epic comeback for England yesterday.
Toone said: “ The main thing was to win and we did that. I knew my role was to come on and change the game in any way that I could. What a ball from LJ [Lauren James].”
England fell behind to the Netherlands in the 12th minute as Beerensteyn slotted it past Mary Earps.
The striker doubled the visitors’ lead ten minutes from half-time as Earps let the ball go through her hands.
The keeper, who was crowned BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year earlier this week, was furious with herself.
But England responded well in the second half as two quick goals from Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp brought them back on level terms.
Earps redeemed herself with a brilliant save late on to keep England’s hopes alive.
With the addition of the returning Beth Mead and her Arsenal teammate Alessia Russo, the hosts had a flurry of chances but it was United’s Ella Toone who slotted it through the legs of Van Domselaar to the roar of the Wembley crowd.
Toone continued to praise her teammates saying: “We showed a lot of character to get the win”
However, there were mixed emotions at full time as the team’s chances of topping the group and qualifying for the Olympics are out of their hands since they failed to beat the Netherlands by two goals.
Earps was visibly distraught and as her team came into a huddle at the full time whistle, she let the tears flow and was consoled by her manager Sarina Wiegman.
Speaking to ITV.after the match Earps said: “I’m sorry my performance cost the girls like that.
“That will haunt me for a long time. I’ve really let the team down today. I’m really gutted.”
Wiegman defended her keeper saying: “We win as a team, we lose as a team.”
England will now travel to Scotland, who host them on Tuesday evening.