📝 UWNL: England, Spain and Sweden survive; Dutch and Germany on fire | OneFootball

More UEFA Women’s Nations League action took place on Friday. Here is what went down.

England edge past Belgium

Scorer: Hemp 13′

England dominated the pitch at King Stadium Power but settled for a slim victory thanks to one of their top stars.

A staggering 23 shots peppered Belgium’s back line, and an early strike broke the deadlock.

After some pinball in the box, the ball fell right in front of Lauren Hemp who volleyed home a belter from point-blank range.

The visitors, meanwhile, failed to truly threaten at the other end until Sarah Wijnants called Mary Earps into a diving save near the hour mark.

Sarina Wiegman might be a bit frustrated with her attack having not found the net again, but the one positive will be seeing Fran Kirby return to action after a year out.

The 1-0 result means England sit second behind the Netherlands but level on points. Belgium, meanwhile, sit third only two points back.

Dutch run rampant against Scotland

Scorers: Van de Donk 12′, Brugts 32′, Beerensteyn 52′, 71′

Clinical finishing was on full display for the Netherlands in a statement win over Scotland.

Danielle van de Donk kicked things off early by poking home a cross at the near post before Esmee Brugts doubled the lead 20 minutes later after slamming home a loose ball in the box.

Scotland – who finished with only 33% possession and two shots on target – couldn’t muster up anything worthwhile to propose a comeback.

A second-half brace from Lineth Beerensteyn saw the hosts pile more misery on the visitors, the first of which was a lob over goalkeeper Lee Helen Gibson.

By scoring four of their six efforts on target, the Dutch sit top of the group level with England while Scotland are last.

Captain Fantastic saves France in Norway

Scorers: Bratberg Lund 60′; Mjelde 23′ (OG), Renard 69′

It was a match of few chances in Norway, but visiting France managed to come out on top.

Despite having one of the deadliest attacks in Europe, Les Bleues struggled to threaten the hosts and needed a bit of luck.

Julie Dufour’s cross into the box hit off Maren Mjelde as the opener arrived thanks to an own-goal.

Norway suggested they were still in the game and ready to capitalise on France’s limited threats when Marit Bratberg Lund netted an equaliser after the break.

But then France turned to Captain Fantastic as a trademark Wendie Renard header less than 10 minutes later proved to be the winner.

t is her 37th goal for her country, and she entered the top five scorers in history.

Looking at the table, France are top with a perfect record while Norway sit bottom with just one point.

Sweden edge past Switzerland

Scorer: Eriksson 44′

The world’s number one ranked side managed to scrape by at home to Switzerland.

Despite 16 shots to 11 for Sweden, it was the visitors who ran the show with the majority possession.

One moment managed to decide the tie, and it was Magdalena Eriksson to the rescue as she connected perfectly with a Kosovare Asllani free-kick to head home her second goal in three games.

Ramona Bachmann and Alisha Lehmann couldn’t help Switzerland find an equaliser and they remain with zero points, while Sweden are second with six (three behind Spain).

Quick-fire Austria beat unlucky Portugal

Scorers: Amado 63′ (OG), Dunst 69′; Pinto 90+5′

Austria managed to scrape by Portugal thanks to a six-minute double in the second half.

It was a fairly tame encounter over 90 minutes as these two sides virtually split possession down the middle and had a handful of chances each.

Portugal were the unluckier of the two, though, when the ball was slammed off defender Catarina Amado’s back and into her own net just after the hour mark.

Austria capitalised on the situation and hit the visitors when they were down, as Barbara Dunst scored a stunning curler from outside the box.

A late goal from Tatiana Pinto arrived too late for the Portuguese to attempt a comeback.

The result means Austria are second, behind leaders France, while Portugal are third above Norway.

Spain leave it late to break Italy hearts

Scorer: Hermoso 89′

A late goal from Jenni Hermoso saw Spain break Italy’s hearts when it looked like nothing would separate the sides.

With Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas pulling the strings, Spain dominated the match with 72% possession and 19 shots to two for Italy but struggled to hit the target (only five times).

As the clock ran down, it seemed Italy’s compact defensive performance would hand La Roja their first stumble since 31 July.

That was until Hermoso came off the bench and slammed home a deflected shot to score in her first match back with the national team since winning the Women’s World Cup.

Looking at the table, Spain sit top with nine points while Italy are third (behind Sweden) with three.

Germany cruise past Wales

Scorers: Schüller 25′, 46′, Gwinn 80′ (P), Nüsken 86′, Anyomi 88′; Holland 42′

Germany picked up three key points at home following a convincing showing against Wales.

While the hosts largely dominated the pitch, it took a while to open the scoring. It wasn’t until a rising Lea Schüller headed home at the back post that Germany found the net near the half-hour mark.

The visitors pulled one back when Ceri Holland redirected a ball into the box to suggest maybe things wouldn’t be so easy for Germany.

But Wales’ threat of a comeback fell short when a second Schüller header restored the lead immediately after the break.

The floodgates opened in the final moments as Germany netted another three goals in eight minutes – fatigue likely set in for the visitors.

Giulia Gwinn scored a penalty before substitutes Sjoeke Nüsken and Nicole Anyomi each found the net.

Looking at the table, Germany sit second level with leaders Denmark, while Wales are bottom with zero points.

How did your team do?