by Sarina Wiegman praised her English team after they “simply kept” it in a 5-0 route of the opponents of the Nations League Belgium at the Ashton Gate.
The goals in the first half of Lucy Bronze and Millie shone from England’s control over the competition, and it could have been more, but Alessia Russo hit the post twice.
The replacement Aggie Beever-Jones achieved her Maiden lion goal after 67 minutes, without England in all areas of the field in front of Jess Park and Keira Walsh for the first time in 83 international appearances.
Belgium had little answer to England’s movement and accuracy when the hosts scored seven points from a possible nine in Group A3 before the return game on Tuesday.
“The things we wanted to do for most of the game we did,” said England boss Wiegman.
“The U -boats came up and brought new energy. We have the dynamics in possession and we kept them simple and together. It looks very easy – but it is not easy to do.”
When asked whether she believes that England killed this summer after impressive victories against Spain and Belgium against the euro, Wiegman added: “Of course, winning helps.
“We develop. We come closer to the way we want to play against different opponents. It is really good to have it ahead of us and see what options we have at this moment.
“We know that a lot can change, but I am only very satisfied with the victory and how we showed up. It was also nice with the fans and how they showed up.”
A lot of more than 23,000 brought a carnival atmosphere, but there were only a few smiles when Wiegman scored two minutes before the time.
“I was very happy for her because we want her to shoot more,” said Wiegman.
“She has a very good shot and we want her to climb higher on the field of what she did today.”
Wiegman added that the decision to take Lauren James at half -time was based on having no risks after “a little moment on her leg”.
Meanwhile, Chloe Kelly will miss the appointment with Belgium in Leuven on Tuesday after he was on the first encounter of Group A3.
Kelly has a foot injury and Wiegman added: “We expected that it would not be too serious, but it is a short time until Tuesday, so we knew that it would be tight.
“We examined them again and found that it would be too early. Hopefully it won’t be going too long.”
