Report: Spain 2-1 England WU23s

England women's under-23s were defeated 2-1 by Spain at the Murcia Stadium on Thursday evening in their penultimate match of the 2024-25 season.

In a testing fixture, England had hope in the final stages after Isobel Goodwin’s header had reduced their 2-0 deficit, but it wasn’t enough to earn a positive result.

The opening period was challenging for the Young Lionesses as they were tasked to deal with constant attacking pressure from the hosts.

And that pressure paid off when Spain took the lead in the ninth minute, as Lucia Corrales' cross took a heavy deflection off Teyah Goldie and looped over Kayla Rendell.

Emma Coates’ side had to be patient in their build-up but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

The hosts capitalised on that and added to their advantage on the 30 minute mark, when Ornella Maria Vignola’s individual brilliance allowed her to find some space inside the area before she tucked her shot away into the bottom corner.

Rendell made two vital saves in the final moments of the half – first, she palmed away Ainhoa Marín’s strike which looked destined for the far corner before she denied Corrales’ effort in a one-on-one.

England did eventually get a chance of their own through Mia Enderby, but her effort drifted wide of the target.

Coates’ team really improved after the interval as they searched for a way back into the game, with Katie Robinson’s cross flashing across goal but it was just out of Enderby’s reach at full stretch.

England continued to make it challenging for Spain to progress into dangerous areas while also posing their own threat and as a result, they reduced the deficit in the closing stages.

A teasing cross from Georgia Mullet on her debut found the head of fellow substitute Goodwin, and she made no mistake from close range to set up a grandstand finish and apply further pressure to Spain.

However, it was too little, too late for Coates’ side who were ultimately defeated on the night and will now turn their attention to Sunday when they will play Belgium at the same stadium in their final game of the season.

England: 1 Kayla Rendell (Manchester United), 2 Ella Morris (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Anouk Denton (West Ham), 4 Ruby Grant (Bayern Leverkusen), 5 Naomi Layzell (Manchester City), 6 Teyah Goldie (London City Lionesses, loan from Arsenal), 7 Katie Robinson (Aston Villa), 8 Malaika Meena (Bristol City), 10 Missy Bo Kearns (Aston Villa), 11 Mia Enderby (Liverpool) 21 Freya Godfrey (London City Lionesses, loan from Arsenal).

Substitutes: 9 Isobel Goodwin (London City Lionesses) for Enderby 59, 19 Sarah Brasero (G.D. Estoril Praia) for Meena (Bristol City) 59, 20 Ashanti Akpan (Birmingham City) for Grant, 18 Lenna Gunning-Williams (Tottenham Hotspur) for Robinson 83, 23 Georgia Mullet (Southampton) for Godfrey 83

Substitutes not used: 12 Lucy Parry (Liverpool), 13 Emily Orman (London City Lionesses), 14 Tara Bourne (Southampton), 15 Gracie Prior (Manchester City), 16 Jessica Simpson (Bristol City), 17 Lexi Lloyd Smith (Bristol City).

Head coach: Emma Coates

Goals: Goodwin 85’