France 3-1 England: Player ratings as wasteful Lionesses slump to friendly defeat

A penalty from Fran Kirby was a mere consolation for England as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat against France in an enthralling international friendly.

In a scrappy start to the game, England were electric in attack but shaky at the back. In fact, the first half was summed up perfectly just after the half hour mark when Ellen White's tap-in was rightly ruled out for offside, before France went straight down the other end to take the lead through Sandy Baltimore.

The Lionesses' hopes of a comeback were dashed on the hour mark when Rachel Daly conceded a penalty for a clumsy challenge, from which Viviane Asseyi made no mistake. But Fran Kirby ensured a nervy ending when she netted her own spot kick with 12 minutes to go - the first goal France had conceded in over 13 hours.

Kiera Walsh struck the post a few minutes later, but France wrapped the game up soon after as Marie-Antoinette Katoto tapped home from close range to seal the win for Les Bleus.

Here's how England's players rated on the night...

England player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Ellie Roebuck (GK) - 7/10 - Looked a bit nervous at times but made up for it with a handful of excellent saves. France would have been clear early on without her.

Rachel Daly (RB) - 4/10 - Hard to be too critical of Daly. She's not a right-back (she's not even a defender) and France were more than happy to exploit that. She was absolutely mauled by Baltimore.

Millie Bright (CB) - 5/10 - Threw herself in front of a handful of shots but looked frail in the air. France pumped in cross after cross and the Chelsea star didn't look up to it.

Leah Williamson (CB) - 5/10 - Like Bright, Williamson found it hard to deal with France's forward line. Not a vintage performance from either central defender, who clearly missed Steph Houghton's influence.

Alex Greenwood (LB) - 4/10 - Hauled off at half-time after struggling to match up to France's potent front line.

2. Midfielders

Jill Scott (CM) - 5/10 - Showed her age a little as she struggled to cope with the tempo of the game. Outgunned in midfield.

Keira Walsh (CM) - 8/10 - Picked up the slack from Scott with an excellent showing. Sprayed passes around the field all night long and looked keen to get on the ball. Deserved more luck than she got with her late strike.

Nikita Parris (RM) - 7/10 - Missed a sitter on the stroke of half-time and was hauled off soon after. Should have had more of an impact.

Fran Kirby (AM) - 8/10 - The Chelsea star wasn't as dangerous as we've seen at club level, but she still managed to torment France's backline. Found herself in so many dangerous spaces and helped pull the strings in attack. Took her penalty with real composure.

Beth Mead (LM) - 5/10 - Struggled to get into the game and was surprisingly marked out of the game by Torrent. Mead's biggest impact was constantly screaming 'OUR BALL!'.

3. Forward

Ellen White (ST) - 7/10 - Had a lot of fun up against France's defenders but found her biggest adversary to be the offside flag. Will be frustrated not to have done more.

4. Substitutes

Chloe Kelly - 7/10

Niamh Charles - 6/10

Lotte Wubben-Moy - 6/10

Lauren Hemp - 7/10

Jordan Nobbs - 6/10

Beth England - 6/10

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