Soccer-England's French pressing problem leads to Women's Euro defeat

By Philip O'Connor

ZURICH (Reuters) -England came into the Women's Euros as reigning champions and promptly fell into a trap set for them by a cunning French side who ruthlessly exploited their errors en route to a 2-1 Group D win on Saturday that puts the Lionesses in a precarious position after their opening game. 

A bright start for England resulted in a disallowed goal before giving way to a flat, listless performance that saw them concede two goals in the first half and, despite a late onslaught following a Keira Walsh goal, there were few positives England could take from the game. 

Faced with the lightning counter-attacking of France, England could not afford to give away the ball but they did so repeatedly and cheaply, especially in the middle of the field.

"The positive is that I've not seen us like that, in terms of turning the ball over so much, for a while," England captain Leah Williamson said. "When you lose the ball cheaply, you're defending in an emergency. When you concede four or five counter-attacks in a row against quality like France have, it is tough." 

As England coach Sarina Wiegman pointed out after the game, the French were selective in how they pressed, waiting until England tried to pass their way out of small spaces and pouncing on any poor touch that was made. 

The French attack, which often looked static on the night, took winning possession as a cue to surge towards the English goal and by the time the Lionesses showed any sign of solving the puzzle posed by the French press, it was too late. 

England now face Netherlands on Wednesday knowing another defeat will see them out of the competition. 

"It was a big game as it was but now it's an even bigger game for us as a must-win," winger Beth Mead said. "We'll analyse this game that we've just played, we'll put ourselves in good stead, and we'll prepare the best we can for the Netherlands game."

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)