The England women’s national team took an early lead on an absolutely fabulous strike from Manchester City forward Georgia Stanway, but capitulated as Norway came from behind to beat Phil Neville‘s squad 2-1 in the team’s second international friendly since the World Cup.
The result comes just days after the squad coughed up a 2-0 lead to Belgium in an eventual 3-3 draw.
Stanway will still receive headlines for her stunning effort from well outside the penalty area struck with power and pace that found the top corner off the underside of the bar. Norwegian goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth gave the effort a go but had no chance at stopping the strike as it curled away from her dive.
Norway’s comeback started just after halftime as Frida Maanum headed home off a corner in the 53rd minute, and Barcelona winger Caroline Graham Hansen scored a fantastic solo goal through a Steph Houghton challenge in the 89th minute for a dramatic winner.
Neville has work to do after the two straight collapses as he gets his squad together in the aftermath of a fourth-place finish at the World Cup this past summer. England topped Norway 3-0 in the quarterfinal of that run, leaving an even more sour taste in the Lionesses mouths after today’s defeat.
The loss comes a day after reports in England claimed Neville was a candidate for the vacant U.S. women’s coaching job, but those reports were very quickly shot down by the U.S. media.
