Ellen White celebrates England century with qualifying winner against Austria

Sarina Wiegman limbered up for her first trip to Wearside by watching the Netflix documentary series Sunderland ‘Til I die. It is, in part, a cautionary tale about pride coming before a fall but, on this evidence, there seems little danger of England suffering a collapse in any way comparable to Sunderland’s painful tumble from the Premier League to League One.

Under the tutelage of the former Netherlands coach, the Lionesses have won their first five qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, scoring 33 goals and conceding none along the way to move five points clear at the top of Group D.

Austria, ranked 21st in the world to England’s eighth, represented their toughest test to date, with Ellen White’s 45th goal for her country separating two sides who will meet again at Old Trafford in July as the curtain rises on the European Championships.

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If they are to prosper in that tournament England will need to be rather less ponderous in possession than they were on Saturday but, in mitigation, the game was affected by a horrendously cold and capricious wind whipping in from the North Sea, variously supplemented by icy rain, hail, sleet and snow.

Storm Arwen restricted the attendance to 9,159, but everyone who braved the elements and trekked to the Stadium of Light on a day when much local public transport was suspended deserves a medal.

They were treated to a stellar performance from Fran Kirby on an afternoon when too many teammates frustrated. “We had some hard moments,” Wiegman said. “We value the clean sheet.

“Although we dominated possession, it was a tough game against a tough opponent, dangerous on the counterattack.”

Kirby has expressed disappointment about not being able to replicate her Chelsea form in an England shirt, but you would not have noticed that deficiency here.

Although operating in a deeper role than she habitually occupies for her club, it did not take long for the brightest star in Wiegman’s firmament to once again prove that she is capable of shaping a game and dictating play from almost anywhere.

No prizes for guessing that virtually all of England’s better moments arrived after Kirby’s vision and technique from the right of midfield permitted her to pick a defence-splitting pass or cross.

Whenever Kirby was joining the dots, the immensely gifted Lauren Hemp raised her game, showing off wonderfully quick feet while disorientating Austria’s otherwise stubborn defence courtesy of some incisive link-up play.

Even so, bar saving one left foot shot from Kirby, Manuela Zinsberger was underworked until the 39th minute when Hemp and Kirby combined to unpick that durable visiting defensive lock. All that remained was for a stretching White to arrive in the right place at the right time and extend a foot to steer a half-volley beyond the Arsenal goalkeeper.

“Ellen’s so alert in the box,” said Wiegman. “She’s really consistent, really special and a real team player.”

White’s goal left a striker presented with her 100th cap before kick off one short of Kelly Smith’s all-time England scoring record. Had she reacted a millisecond faster as an inviting cross from Hemp came her way before half-time she could have equalled that milestone; instead, Zinsberger was able to divert the danger.

As good as Kirby was, England moved the ball too slowly and their continued failure to pass at speed almost cost them dear in a largely underwhelming second half, which raised certain concerns about the strength and dynamism of the central midfield.

Accordingly, after spending the opening 45 minutes endeavouring to keep warm, Mary Earps was finally called to arms, saving smartly from Barbara Dunst and Maria Plattner as they threatened to equalise.

“The two saves from Mary Earps were such important moments,” Wiegman said.

For a while after that a Lionesses XI captained for the first time by Millie Bright experienced an attack of the sort of defensive wobbles not seen since the latter days of Phil Neville’s tenure, appearing incapable of clearing their lines.

Nonetheless, they were unlucky not to double their advantage when Carina Wenninger brought down Beth Mead. A penalty beckoned but the referee, Kateryna Monzul, was not buying it.

Mead had reason to feel aggrieved but, overall, she failed to fully impose herself and, like Ella Toone, may face a fight to preserve a starting place. Rachel Daly continues to deputise for the injured Lucy Bronze at right-back and her shot forced a decent save from Zinsberger as England otherwise dropped worryingly deep and their manager shivered on the sidelines.

Wiegman must hope it will be warmer in Doncaster on Tuesday when Latvia visit and White gets another crack at breaking Smith’s record.