England bounce back from Brazil defeat with win over Australia: Five things we learned

It was a night to remember in Derby as England cruised past Australia 3-0, with goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Lucy Bronze, and Georgia Stanway sealing a dominant win.

An early red card to Alanna Kennedy left the Matildas on the back foot and the Lionesses took full advantage to round off their homecoming series for October in emphatic fashion.

After securing their first win outside of Australia since beating Germany back in October 2024, the Matildas faltered at the hands of the European Champions, who bounced back in style following their 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the first game of their homecoming series.

Two first-half goals and a late penalty was what it took for England to secure victory. Here are five big talking points from the game.

Lionesses show intent from the start

England silenced the doubters regarding their slow starts with a match full of energy, desire and swiftness throughout, even amid the late stoppages.

Pressing the Matildas into early mistakes, England’s first chance of the game came within minutes when a zipped ball across the box from Lucy Bronze travelled just a bit too fast for her club team-mate Beever-Jones.

That moment set the tone for a relentless flurry of chances. In the 13th minute, Beever-Jones thought she had found the net, only for the flag to deny her. Moments later, Keira Walsh tried her luck from distance after a clever lay-off from debutant Lucia Kendall. Ella Toone twice went close soon after, first firing over and then dragging wide, as England continued to swarm the Australian defence just 30 minutes into the game.

The epitome of the Lionesses’ high press came in the 18th minute when Kennedy was sent off for bringing down Alessia Russo as she raced through on goal. Unlike against Brazil, when England struggled to capitalise on a numerical advantage, this time they made it count – creating wave after wave of pressure.

Although Australia were defensively more solid after the break, England continued to probe and eventually got their third in stoppage time when Katrina Gorry brought down Missy Bo Kearns in the box, on what was her second showing for the Lionesses.

Georgia Stanway stepped up and calmly slotted home to round off a commanding performance, scoring all 12 of her penalties for England.

The Lionesses’ total of 29 shots told the story of the night, 3-0 was arguably the least they deserved on a sold-out evening at Pride Park.

Chelsea stars shine under the lights

Beever-Jones delivered again.

In the 20th minute, England’s top scorer of the 2024/25 season opened the deadlock with a rocket into the top corner after her initial free-kick was blocked, a stunning finish on only her third international start.

Showing why she’s so trusted out wide, she combined her attacking quality with tireless tracking, producing a strong tackle on Cooney-Cross in the 38th minute to halt a threatening counter-attack.

And on her 34th birthday, Lucy Bronze once again showed why she remains one of the defining figures of this England side. A neat passage of play saw Keira Walsh thread the ball into Toone, who cut it perfectly back for Bronze to sweep home, almost passing the ball into the net to double England’s lead just before half-time. She even was credited with the assist for Beever-Jones.

As Beth Mead put candidly after the match, “Bronze deserves everything she’s getting.” Her attitude, leadership, and consistency continues to set the standard for this Lionesses generation.

Debutants Hinds and Kendall impress

Wiegman continued her experimentation by handing debuts to Arsenal’s Taylor Hinds annd Aston Villa youngster Lucia Kendall, and both slotted seamlessly into the side. Hinds looked confident from the first whistle, threading composed passes infield to link with Toone, while showing defensive discipline when tracking the runs of Ellie Carpenter.

Kendall, meanwhile, looked every bit an England midfielder in the making. Finding pockets of space and linking play intelligently, she was unlucky not to mark her debut with a goal. A glancing header in the second half struck the crossbar before she saw another effort blocked moments later. Earlier, in the seventh minute, she’d fired just over after a finely worked move starting from the back – a sign of her willingness to get forward and her growing confidence on the international stage.

Her move from childhood club Southampton Town to Aston Villa has already proved fruitful at club level, and now her first senior England appearance only underlines her potential.

Sarina shows versatility

Before the first whistle was even blown it was almost refreshing for fans to see Wiegman prepared to try new things with this already title-winning England side.

There has been considerable questions about Maya Le Tissier’s position for England, and Tuesday evening saw Wiegman opt to start the Manchester United centre back in her favoured club position and it’s fair to say she delivered as England finally broke their four-game streak of conceding the first goal.

She was a calming presence at the heart of England’s defence alongside Esme Morgan which was scarcely challenged across periods of the game. Their distribution from deep helped England control the rhythm, recycling possession and cutting off Australia’s limited attacks with ease. It’s a partnership that looks set to grow.

Further forward, Wiegman also paired Russo and Beever-Jones together from the start for the first time – a combination that clicked immediately. Russo’s early cross was only inches away from finding Beever-Jones at the back post, and it was her clever movement that won the foul leading to Beever-Jones’ opener from the resulting free-kick.

And perhaps the most telling sign of Wiegman’s current mindset came midway through the second half, when she made four substitutions at once, a rare show of flexibility from the usually reserved coach. It’s clearly a time for testing, evolving, and preparing this side for the ultimate goal: bringing home the World Cup trophy in 2027.

Injury scares for Beever-Jones and Agyemang

Just when it seemed England’s evening couldn’t have gone more perfectly, there were a couple of late injury concerns.

Michelle Agyemang went down clutching her knee after an awkward landing, forcing a change that somewhat tempered the jubilant mood, especially since she is a player that always gets back up, and seeing her get stretchered off was a tough watch.

It is a shame for the star that provided some clutch moments across Euro 2025.

Shortly after, Beever-Jones also had to be withdrawn following a dead leg, leaving England to finish the match with ten players after using all six substitutions.

With WSL action back this weekend, both Brighton and Chelsea will be hoping that such injuries do not keep the pair out for long, although for Agyemang the recovery looks to be a longer one.