N Ireland Women 0 – 5 England Women

Alessia Russo’s second-half double saw England ease past Northern Ireland 5-0 in their final group game of Euro 2022 at St Mary’s.

The Lionesses were without their manager Sarina Wiegman after the coach tested positive for Covid-19 earlier on Friday, but it seemed to do little to dampen a rampant Lionesses team.

There was early drama too at a sunny St Mary’s when England were awarded a penalty inside five minutes. Georgia Stanway’s shot hit Laura Rafferty on the arm, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot. However, after a lengthy VAR review and the official consulting the monitor, the penalty was rightly ruled out.

For 40 minutes, it looked like Northern Ireland were in situ to frustrate their rivals, with England being wasteful with chances. Lauren Wade looked like a lethal outlet for Kenny Shiels’ side, firing into the side of the net in the first half, but never truly threatened Mary Earps’ goal.

Fran Kirby finally breached the Northern Ireland defence with five minutes of the first half to play, curling a superb effort home from the top of the area after Northern Ireland failed to clear their lines.

Beth Mead quickly followed up with her fifth goal of Euro 2022, making her the Golden Boot leader so far. She fired a low, hard shot at the near post, with the ball taking a nick off a sliding Rachel Furness. It saw her goalkeeper, Jackie Burns, wrong-footed as England nabbed their second.

Russo came on at half-time, along with Ella Toone and Alex Greenwood, and it took just three minutes for her to score her second goal of the tournament. She did well to rise up between the defenders to nod home Mead’s cross as the winger added an assist to her evening’s work.

Just five minutes later, Russo nabbed her second goal and England’s fourth of the game. It was perhaps the goal of the match too, picking up a fizzed cross from Manchester United team-mate Toone, before again getting the better of the defenders, She then hammered a shot past Burns, roaring her approval with her celebration.

Northern Ireland’s difficult evening was capped off with an unfortunate own goal from Rafferty in the 76th minute. Her attempt to stop Mead’s cross from finding Chloe Kelly did not go to plan as she turned the ball past her own goalkeeper.

It was not the ending Shiels or Northern Ireland will have wanted to their Euro 2022 journey, but the team were still given a rousing reception by their fans at full-time. For England, they finish Group A with a 100 per cent record and will now being preparations for their quarter-final on Wednesday evening.

What’s next?

England will be back in action on Wednesday when they face either Spain or Denmark in their quarter-final clash at the Amex; kick-off 8pm.

Northern Ireland will next play in September when they take on Luxembourg and Latvia in their World Cup Qualifiers.

Follow Euro 2022 across Sky Sports

Keep up with all the latest from Euro 2022 across Sky Sports and Sky Sports News this summer.

Coverage will be anchored by Sky Sports WSL presenter Caroline Barker, alongside Jessica Creighton and Kyle Walker. Meanwhile, Karen Carney, Sue Smith, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk and Laura Bassett will give analysis throughout the tournament.

They will also be joined by experienced England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley and Manchester City defender Esme Morgan.

The pundits and presenters will work from the Sky Sports Women’s Euro 2022 Mobile Presentation Bus, which will follow the Sky Sports News team around the country to the various stadiums where matches are being played.

In addition, Sky Sports’ Essential Football Podcast will be rebranded for the tournament to Sky Sports Women’s Euros Podcast from 21 June. Hosted by Charlotte Marsh and Anton Toloui, it will feature exclusive news and player interviews in addition to a strong programme line-up around the tournament.

Euro 2022: The groups…

Group A: England, Austria, Norway, Northern Ireland

Group B: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland

Group C: Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Switzerland

Group D: France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland

Euro 2022: The schedule…

Group stage

Wednesday July 6

Group A: England 1-0 Austria

Thursday July 7

Group A: Norway 4-1 Northern Ireland

Friday July 8

Group B: Spain 4-1 Finland

Group B: Germany 4-0 Denmark

Saturday July 9

Group C: Portugal 2-2 Switzerland

Group C: Netherlands 1-1 Sweden

Sunday July 10

Group D: Belgium 1-1 Iceland

Group D: France 5-1 Italy

Monday July 11

Group A: Austria 2-0 Northern Ireland

Group A: England 8-0 Norway

Tuesday July 12

Group B: Denmark 1-0 Finland

Group B: Germany 2-0 Spain

Wednesday July 13

Group C: Sweden 2-1 Switzerland

Group C: Netherlands 3-2 Portugal

Thursday July 14

Group D: Italy 1-1 Iceland

Group D: France 2-1 Belgium

Friday July 15

Group A: Northern Ireland 0-5 England

Group A: Austria 1-0 Norway

Saturday July 16

Group B: Finland vs Germany – kick-off 8pm, Stadium MK

Group B: Denmark vs Spain – kick-off 8pm, London Community Stadium

Sunday July 17

Group C: Switzerland vs Netherlands – kick-off 5pm, Bramall Lane

Group C: Sweden vs Portugal – kick-off 5pm, Leigh Sports Village

Monday July 18

Group D: Iceland vs France – kick-off 8pm, New York Stadium

Group D: Italy vs Belgium – kick-off 8pm, Manchester City Academy Stadium

Knockout phase

Quarter-finals

Wednesday July 20

Quarter-final 1: Winners Group A v Runners-up Group B – kick-off 8pm, Brighton and Hove Community Stadium

Thursday July 21

Quarter-final 2: Winners Group B v Runners-up Group A – kick-off 8pm, London Community Stadium

Friday July 22

Quarter-final 3: Winners Group C v Runners-up Group D – kick-off 8pm, Leigh Sports Village

Quarter-final 4: Winners Group D v Runners-up Group C – kick-off 8pm, New York Stadium

Semi-finals

Tuesday July 26

Semi-final 1: Winners quarter-final 1 v Winners quarter-final 3 – kick-off 8pm, Bramall Lane

Wednesday July 27

Semi-final 2: Winners quarter-final 2 v Winners quarter-final 4 – kick-off 8pm, Stadium MK

Final

Sunday July 31

Winners semi-final 1 v Winners semi-final 2 – kick-off 5pm, Wembley