Lauren Hemp double helps revitalised Lionesses comfortably see off Italy

Lauren Hemp (No 11) is congratulated by Alex Greenwood after her second goal puts England 3-0 ahead. Photograph: Fran Santiago/The FA/Getty Images

England could have slumped further after failing to progress to the Nations League finals at the end of 2023, with Team GB missing out on the Olympics as a result. Instead, they talked of resets, fresh starts, new beginnings. They turned that talk into action in Spain, with a 5-1 defeat of Italy added to Friday night’s impressive 7-2 win over Austria to begin their charge towards retaining their European title next year.

Against Italy, Lotte Wubben-Moy opened proceedings, Lauren Hemp scored twice, and the substitutes Ella Toone and Rachel Daly added one apiece to ensure another comfortable victory. These games are just friendlies, but there was no mood for friendliness with England needing to hit the reset button hard and fast after a disappointing Nations League campaign.

There were several changes to the team which earned victory over Austria. Manchester United’s Grace Clinton, who is on loan at Tottenham, retained her place in midfield after her debut goal and impressive performance, while Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze, Chloe Kelly, Mary Earps and Wubben-Moy all came into the starting XI.

For Wubben-Moy, who replaced Alex Greenwood at half-time against Austria, this start had been a long time coming. Ahead of kick-off, Sarina Wiegman credited her form at club level for her inclusion from the off. “She’s doing really good at Arsenal. She’s done really well with us too and, as I said before this game, we have two games, we want to see many players, so this is her start,” the manager said.

The Arsenal centre-back’s form isn’t new, though: Wubben-Moy has been playing superbly for Arsenal all season and stepped up towards the end of last season following Leah Williamson’s anterior cruciate ligament injury. Prior to starting at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador, Wubben-Moy had not begun a match for England since June 2022, with Millie Bright, Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Jess Carter and Maya Le Tissier among those that have been picked ahead of her when available.

Wubben-Moy, who has bided her time patiently, dropping in and out of the squad at times, responded marvellously to the challenge of starting for her country. She delivered the opener within two minutes of kick-off, the centre-back losing her marker to send Greenwood’s corner looping into the far corner.

The 25-year-old defender remembered to whom she wanted to dedicate her first England goal. She crossed her arms across her chest and did a little wiggle, as she did after scoring for Arsenal against Bristol City, in tribute to Izzy, a severely deaf young fan who met some of the players and taught them sign language in July 2023.

Wubben-Moy was almost on the scoresheet again within five minutes, but the goalkeeper Laura Giuliani pushed her low header from a free-kick around the post. England were rampant in the first half, pressing aggressively and with a fire that had dimmed a little in the aftermath of a gruelling World Cup final defeat last summer.

Wiegman’s side proved most potent from set pieces and converted twice more from corners within the first 35 minutes. First, Giuliani punched Greenwood’s corner away but Italy failed to clear and Hemp wriggled a shot between a sea of bodies and in. Then Bronze did well to keep the ball in play after another Greenwood corner was cleared and Georgia Stanway flicked it on for Hemp to send it looping in.

Against Austria, England had looked the vulnerable side from set pieces, here they were threatening from them. But a defensive lapse allowed Italy to carve out a rare opening at the end of the half when Niamh Charles’s pass to an under-pressure Greenwood allowed Sofia Cantore to seize possession and find Michela Catena, who fed the centre-forward Michela Cambiaghi, who slotted in.

Wiegman switched things up in the second half, bringing Carter and Lauren James on for Alessia Russo and Charles at half-time, then Toone and Jess Park for Stanway and Clinton just past the hour mark.

Two of those would combine for England’s fourth, with James sweeping a wonderful pass back from the left for Toone to sidefoot in first time. Another change, Kelly departing for Daly, would lead to the fifth, with Daly set free dancing past the onrushing Giuliani and slotting in.

Greenwood departed next, Millie Turner coming on, and England switching to three at the back, but still momentum was maintained. That is what has been most impressive across these two fixtures; the seamlessness to England’s play despite the frequency of changes.