England 0-0 United States: Earps stars as Hayes´ homecoming ends goalless

Emma Hayes’ return to England lacked the sparks it had promised as the United States were held to a 0-0 friendly draw at Wembley.

Both sides were missing key attacking components, with the USA without the “Triple Espresso” of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, while England were missing Lauren Hemp, Lauren James and Ella Toone.

England goalkeeper Mary Earps was the standout performer and showed her world-class quality as she turned a curling strike from Alyssa Thompson around the post after just five minutes.

USA seemed to have found the breakthrough just after the restart when Lindsey Horan touched Rose Lavelle’s shot past Earps, but the flag had been raised and the goal was ruled out for offside.

There was further controversy in the 65th minute when the referee pointed to the spot for a USA penalty after deeming Alex Greenwood had handled the ball in the box. However, the decision was overturned following a VAR review, showing it had hit the defender’s torso.

Clear chances were not subsequently forthcoming for either side, and the game finished with a cumulative expected goals value below 1.0.

Thank you for your fantastic support tonight! pic.twitter.com/Iaa7q1HBpZ

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 30, 2024

Data Debrief: Defence wins out at Wembley

The USA are now unbeaten in each of their last 20 friendly matches (W17 D3) and have kept a clean sheet in 15 of those.

Both sides registered low xG, with England restricted to just 0.07 while the USA recorded 0.7.

England had just four shots all match with only one of those on target. Their opponents took aim 10 times but saw only three of those strikes hit the target.