Sarina Wiegman started five of Gareth Taylor’s squad at the Coventry Building Society Arena as Ellie Roebuck, Lauren Hemp, Laura Coombs, Jess Park (on loan at Everton) and Alex Greenwood began proceedings – with our classy centre-back captaining her country.
And Roebuck was called into action within the first five minutes when she strongly palmed Valentina Gianciti’s powerful effort away after Italy caught the hosts cold on the counter attack.
In a first half which often saw the Azzuri defence thwart England attacks, Coombs started a well-worked move which handed the Lionesses the lead, in what was her fourth appearance for her country.
Our versatile midfielder expertly controlled the ball on the edge of the area before calmly teeing up Katie Robinson whose whipped cross was met by a powerful Rachel Daly header from six yards – seeing the ball fly into the net.
Wiegman’s side were aiming to claim consecutive victories in the Arnold Clark Cup after opening their campaign with a 4-0 victory over Korea Republic.
But, against the run of play, Italy would equalised just after the hour mark as Sofia Cantore’s close range header was too venomous to handle as Roebuck reacted well but couldn’t keep the ball out.
After scoring in England’s victory over Korea Republic, Chloe Kelly was introduced in place of Hemp, while Alex Greenwood was replaced by Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy with 25 minutes remaining.
The sides weren’t level much longer, either, as Aston Villa’s Daly directed Lauren James’ inch-perfect cross home with her head on 71 minutes.
And the hosts held on for three vital points in front of over 32,000 fans in Coventry.
The Lionesses will face Belgium in their final Arnold Clark Cup fixture on Wednesday 22 February, with kick off scheduled for 19:45 (UK).
They know victory at Ashton Gate will secure the trophy for a second consecutive season after winning the inaugural tournament in 2022.
Elsewhere, Yui Hasegawa couldn’t prevent Japan from a slender 1-0 defeat to the United States in the SheBelieves Cup.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes in Nashville, with Mallory Swanson’s effort on the stroke of half-time proving the difference.
Japan will look to end their SheBelieves Cup campaign on a high when they face Canada on Wednesday 22 February.
Keep across all international fixtures involving our players on mancity.com and our official app.
