A STRING of second half saves from Studley stopper Hannah Hampton has helped the Lionesses to another important World Cup qualifier win.
England took the lead against Iceland in the first half, thanks to a superb strike from Alessia Russo after she was played in by Lauren Hemp.
Sarina Wiegman’s side looked good value for their lead at the break. But in the second half, their opponents came out with extra purpose and went in search for an equaliser.
England substitute Beth Mead’s header was well kept out by a great save by Iceland keeper Cecilia Runarsdottir.
But most of the second half was one-way traffic from Iceland.
But the hosts dominated the rest of the game, despite England creating the odd chance.
Jessen forced a point-blank save from Hampton on the 77th mark but the flag was up anyway for offside.
And it was a sign of things to come as the England goalkeeper made another close-range stop. Dilja Zomers’ attempt came after Jessen’s shot trickled back off the post.
Hampton then made her third save in five frantic minutes. Alexandra Johannsdottir shot came off the England number one’s leg a couple of yards from goal.
On the one occasion Jessen did round Hampton, Lucy Bronze was there to block and tidy up.
And, in an eventful game, Hampton was also injured when she was bundled over from a corner after claiming the ball.
But the Lionesses managed to hold on in what was their 500th match in World football.
Hampton: ‘I was just doing my job’
In an interview afterwards, Hampton said: “We know it’s tough in the second half – they put more bodies forward and more balls into dangerous areas – it was nervy at the end but we got the win.”
When asked if she ‘rose to the occasion’, she modestly joked: “It’s my job, isn’t it really? Let’s be honest.”
And she said: “We are in it as a team – I can’t be the one scoring goals but I can stop them.
“We win as a team and that’s what we pride ourselves on.
“‘Less got a great finish at one end so I had to do my job at the other.
“We would have liked to have controlled the game better than we did.]
“But we know they have a lot of threat when they have the momentum in their favour.
“There were a lot of balls in our box, a lot of set pieces and aerial threats.
“We needed to make sure we were really solid in our defensive areas and we were,
“It was nerve-wracking but it was a positive result for us.
“We knew we wanted to get the six points from the two games in this camp and we’ve done that.”
Russo described Hampton as ‘amazing’, adding she stepped up to ensure the Lionesses kept a clean sheet.
How the group stands
The victory means England stay top of the group with 12 points and on course to reach next year’s World Cup.
World Champions Spain, who England beat 1-0 in the week, are second on nine points. Both England and Spain have a goal difference of +9.
The second place team would need to win a play-off to progress to next year’s World Cup finals.
England’s last two matches – away to Spain and at home to Ukraine who are bottom with no points – take place in June.
