England prove their might against USWNT side in transition at Wembley

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The United States was defeated by England in a friendly at Wembley Stadium. Georgia Stanway's penalty was the difference in the Lionesses' victory.

England defeated the United States by a score of 1-2.

The October international friendly between two of the world's best women's national teams was a nail-biting affair as both sides prepare for the Women's World Cup in three years' time.

Player ratings, best and worst performers, highlights and notable moments, post- match quotes, and key statistics are included.

Rapid Reaction

This is the first thing. They prove themselves against the world's greatest athletes.

The big dog in football is not known. At the end of the day, it was just a friendly match with little riding on it.

England's narrow win could go down as a result, but it was a bigger deal than that. It's more than just the team showing they're no longer afraid of the U.S. team, it's also an example of how fluid the team can be. Even if the defence looked less than perfect, the winger showed her intelligence despite the fact that the attack should have been unbalanced.

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The match raised more questions than it answered for the U.S., who are still trying to recover from a disastrous showing at the Olympics. Even where Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma shone for their country, doing all they could to book their tickets to the World Cup next summer, the weakness of Julie Ertz was the difference.

There are two The US fell foul of the VAR.

With VAR not as widespread in women's football as in the men's game, there is still a novelty that comes of a referee pausing to question their own judgement. The topic of conversation at Wembley was Riem Hussein, who gave Ellen White a penalty against Norway at the Euros, and who halted the game twice in the first half and once after the break.

After reviewing Lucy Bronze's high boot, the German official decided to award a penalty to England and a yellow card to Hailie Mace. When the U.S. looked to have pulled level late in the half, the restart was delayed as those in the technical booth confirmed a barely visible offside in the build-up, before later chalking off a penalty she had awarded.

With the technology used at major tournaments in women's football, there were few complaints about its application or the foul on Bronze being heavily disputed, but it was exactly the type of contact that should have been picked up in real time. The penalty Hussein gave the U.S. didn't seem to have been very close to Hemp's arm as she jumped. The question about refereeing standards was raised by the involvement of the video assistant.

There are three. Football is sloppy.

Some of the hallmarks of a preseason friendly were missing from the match. Players ran into each other, fell over under no pressure, and at one point, Bright blocked a shot with her butt. There was a thin layer of polish missing from the Wembley pitch in a match that was billed as a quasi World Cup final.

There were moments of magic when Sophia Smith and Georgia Stanway got on the ball. The clumsy nature of the match shone through as England got to grips with being the champion of Europe and the U.S.

Player ratings

Mary Earps had 5, Lucy Bronze had 5, Alex Greenwood had 6, Rachel Daly had 6 and Georgia Stanway had 8.

Subs: Ella Toone 6, Lauren James 6.