Sarina Wiegman’s unbeaten Lionesses run is over after loss against Australia

All good things must come to an end and England’s unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman is over.

After 30 games without defeat, the Lionesses were beaten on home soil by World Cup hosts Australia.

It was, undoubtedly, England’s worst performance under Wiegman so far. They were sluggish, poor in possession and careless in defence. They deserved to lose.

This performance and defeat should not cause panic, though it is a slight concern that England seemed so nervous at the back without Millie Bright. They had looked unsteady in their second half against Brazil and they were weak here too.

They also seemed to have no answers to going behind. Their build-up play was slow, compared to ‘walking football’ by ITV pundit Karen Carney.

All good things must eventually end and England’s unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman is over

Sam Kerr (above) opened the scoring in the first half of the game on Tuesday evening 

The Chelsea striker looked dangerous from the opening minute of the game against England

Charlotte Grant scored Australia’s second goal of the game, deflected off Leah Williamson

England could face Australia in the last 16 of the World Cup and, based on this evidence, you would think Wiegman will want to avoid that outcome.

The manager was the picture of frustration for much of the game. Every time the TV camera panned to the Lionesses’ boss, she looked more and more disgusted – both by the football being played by her team and the dismal weather at Brentford’s Gtech Stadium.

‘It doesn’t feel great,’ Wiegman said of her first defeat. ‘I’m not worried, I don’t worry very quickly.

‘We know we have to be on our top level. Every game we get some warnings. We know where we want to go to and what we have to do at this moment.

‘I don’t think we’re losing momentum. I think it’s building, it’s 100 days to go [to the World Cup] and everyone’s really excited to go to Australia. This is just a very big learning moment for us that we need to get to a higher level.’

This was the last fixture before Wiegman will name her World Cup squad and she is probably left with more questions than answers. She played a strong side here, with only two changes from the team that beat Brazil.

Chloe Kelly came in for Lauren James and Esme Morgan replaced the injured Alex Greenwood at centre back. James, however, was introduced in the 28th minute when Lauren Hemp, who was wearing a face mask after suffering a head injury against Brazil, indicated she was unable to continue.

Players who are not guaranteed a spot in the 23-player squad this summer, like Katie Robinson and Laura Coombs, were not given a look in.

Kerr was forced off injured in the final few minutes of the game but Emma Hayes – who was on commentary duty – said she would be fine and there was nothing to worry about 

England dominated possession in both halves but struggled to do much with it. Australia played on the break and it was a counter-attack that saw them take the lead in the 32nd minute.

Leah Williamson tried to head a long ball back to her goalkeeper Mary Earps but got it all wrong and Kerr was able to race in between the two to chip the ball into the back of the net.

The Chelsea striker was marginally offside but, with no VAR in use, the goal stood. It was a defensive calamity.

This was the first time England had been losing going into the half-time break. Wiegman may not look like a manager that can deliver the ‘hairdryer treatment’, but one former Netherlands player said her eyes can ‘spit fire’ and it doubtful she would have been impressed with England’s performance in those first 45 minutes.

England look devastated – having not experienced a game like that under Wiegman

Whatever she said, it had little effect. It was Australia who looked more likely to score and Kerr should have made it 2-0 but flicked an effort wide with the outside of her boot.

England were almost gifted a goal when Clare Hunt sliced James’ cross into the side-netting before the forward then forced a good save from Mackenzie Arnold with a low shot to the right corner.

But England were un-done on the counter-attack again as a cross from the right picked out Charlotte Grant in the box and her header hit the midriff of Williamson and bounced past a deceived Earps.

It was poor defending yet again and as the camera panned to Wiegman, she looked even more frustrated.

To sum up England’s night, Rachel Daly sent a free header wide when she should really have found the net.

Captain Williamson insisted the defeat was ‘absolutely not a setback’ but admitted England ‘lacked ideas’.

‘You have to take blessings in disguise, it’s maybe not the worst thing that could happen to us. For us to lose tonight gives us a bit of fire,’ Williamson said.

‘We looked like we lacked ideas on the ball, and we got punished. It was my mistake for first goal, and they were ruthless on counter.

Meanwhile, Australia were thrilled with the result after their impressive performance 

‘Sometimes in football you have those games. We weren’t as efficient as we usually are, we need to figure out why.

‘I’m not one for dwelling on personal things, that first goal has made it worse for me but the whole teams feels really rubbish about losing. It hurts.’

For Australia, this is a big win – as their captain Kerr explained:

‘It does a lot. England is such a footballing nation that when people [in Australia] wake up and see that the Matildas have beaten England it’s big news. Regardless if they saw the game or not, eyes are peeled to England going down to Australia.

‘For us it’s a big win, but we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves. England are a good team. We have to go home and play with all those pressures of the home crowd but these wins are obviously good for the team and the fans. Hopefully waking up today there’s a few happy Aussies.’