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Sarina Wiegman said England had made life difficult for themselves and been given a \u201chard lesson\u201d after a 3-2 Nations League loss to Belgium in Leuven.<\/p>\n
Having fallen behind to Laura De Neve\u2019s early free-kick and then seen defender Alex Greenwood carried off on a stretcher, the Lionesses turned things around to lead via goals from Lucy Bronze in the 38th minute and Fran Kirby in the 44th.<\/p>\n
But Belgium captain Tessa Wullaert equalised in first-half stoppage time before notching the winner with an 85th-minute penalty awarded for a Georgia Stanway handball as England slipped to third in Group A1 with two games to play.<\/p>\n
Boss Wiegman, whose side had beaten the Belgians 1-0 in Leicester last Friday, told ITV: \u201cThis was a game (where) I think we should have been tighter on the ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t as great in the tempo. We did create lots of chances, we still dominated the game totally, but at moments we lost the ball and then they were gone on the counter-attack. They had five, six moments like that and then they got two or three chances. So it was really us that made it (for) ourselves so hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey played tough, were very compact, and as soon as they win the ball then they were trying to play the counter-attack, and that\u2019s something we really have to get out of our game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd besides that, we did create lots of chances but we just have to do better in the final third.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe were sloppy on the ball and they were ready for that. We have to be tight, especially in the build and create, at moments we don\u2019t expect to lose the ball, and we didn\u2019t do that good enough today. That\u2019s a hard lesson for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This competition provides England with the opportunity to secure a Paris 2024 Olympics qualification spot for Great Britain \u2013 they need to finish top of the group to have a chance to do that, something they are in danger of failing to achieve after their second defeat in four matches in the pool.<\/p>\n
With six points, they are now three behind table-toppers the Netherlands \u2013 1-0 victors over Scotland on Tuesday \u2013 and one behind Belgium.<\/p>\n
The final two rounds of fixtures see England play the Dutch, who beat them 2-1 in Utrecht in September, at Wembley on December 1 then Scotland at Hampden Park four days later.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ives Serneels\u2019 Belgium will host Scotland then face the Netherlands away \u2013 two wins for the Red Flames would see England miss out on top spot regardless of how they fare.<\/p>\n
Wiegman said: \u201cFirst of all we have to win with more than one goal against the Netherlands at Wembley, and then we have to win the other game too, because Belgium is in a very good place too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have work to do \u2013 we always do, but we have put ourselves in a hard position at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenwood went down around 20 minutes into the contest following an accidental clash of heads with Belgian forward Jassina Blom. She received treatment on the field for about 10 minutes before being placed on a stretcher and taken off.<\/p>\n
While it was a worrying scene, a subsequent post from the Lionesses\u2019 official X account said Greenwood was \u201cconscious and talking, and\u2026being monitored by our medical staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Wiegman said of the Manchester City player: \u201cI haven\u2019t talked to the medical staff yet\u2026 She\u2019s alright \u2013 when she\u2019s walking, she\u2019s alright.\u201d<\/p>\n