England v USA LIVE: Lionesses result and reaction from Wembley stalemate

Another night of learning for England and Sarina Wiegman, even if the only fireworks produced from the visit of Emma Hayes and the United States were those in the pre-match light show at Wembley. A blockbuster between the European champions and Olympic champions this was not; rather a reflection that both teams missed key players in attack and were using this November friendly for tactical experimentation. Seven months out from the Euros, Mary Earps admitted England are still “figuring out” how they want to play.

But after conceding four goals in their previous outing at Wembley, Wiegman’s changes were made to ensure there would be no repeat. It offered a view of a more pragmatic, “mature” England, to the point that Wiegman may have been overly cautious and the Lionesses finished with just one shot on target. “I don’t remember a chance,” said Hayes. Earps said it had been a “tough year” for England and the Lionesses played like they did not want another defeat. There was restraint, that shut out the USA. “After the Germany result, we expected a reaction,” Hayes said.

Sarina Wiegman and Emma Hayes’ sides settled for a stalemate after the hotly-billed battle of the bosses ended in a goalless draw between England and the United States in their Wembley friendly.

It was the first time the two FIFA best women’s coach of the year winners had gone toe to toe on the touchline, and more than two years since the two top-ranked women’s sides in the world had met at the London venue.

Wiegman’s European champions were without a shot on target in the first half, while the visitors had a goal chalked off for offside early in the second half.

Hayes’ Olympic gold medallists saw a penalty call reversed after a VAR check, and – though England looked brighter in the second half – Wiegman’s side were never able to find a way through a resolute US defence.

Ian Wright has lamented a lack of consistency within England’s performances after yet another hit and miss display against the US.

“I cannot remember the last game when we have played consistently through the 90 minutes,” he said, speaking on ITV. “We struggle to have a properly complete performance.”

“We looked happy to not concede because of games previously and that's disappointing because there are some players we haven't really seen.”

VAR gets a lot of stick from football fans when things go wrong, but it’s safe to say the technology did its job tonight.

Yazmeen Ryan drilled an effort into the body on Alex Greenwood, only for the referee to deem that the ball had struck Greenwood’s arm.

Replays proved that was far from the case and after an on-field review, the decision was overturned. Without VAR, that incident could have defined the game.

Mary Earps stamped her mark on England’s number one spot tonight, getting the Lionesses out of hot water on numerous occasions to hold onto a clean sheet against a strong US side.

But with Hannah Hampton also vying for a place in the starting XI, has Earps done enough to fend off the competition for the foreseeable future?

Speaking after the game, England manager Sarina Wiegman told ITV: “I don’t think she was bad. We know how good she is. The competition with her with Hannah is very good and she showed up today.”

Earps later added: “It’s about me going out there and being who I am. That’s all I try to do. Play with a smile on my face and that’s what I will start to do.”

Emma Hayes is happy to be back at Wembley, even the result didn’t go exactly her side’s way.

“When you have to play England, especially after the defeat to Germany, we knew there was going to be a reaction to that performance,” Hayes told ITV.

“I got the chance to see so many younger, less experienced players. It is so important because we are building towards something. I am proud of the way we imposed ourselves on the game. Generally, I am pleased with the performance.

“We had a goal disallowed, it was never a penalty, but you saw the entries into the final third it was us more than them. We are at a developmental stage and I am proud of the way we played. In the Olympics I saw some composure in our play. I am proud.

“You can be two things at once. I am a proud English woman who is proud to coach America.”

England had Mary Earps to thank as they gritted their way to a hard-fought clean sheet against the US.

“It was tough, as you’d expect against the Olympic champions,” the shot-stopper said. “We were hard to beat and resolute and stuck together as a group. There are things to build on but I think we will take a 0-0.

“I think it has been a tough year. A few tough results. We know what we can do as a group. It is about figuring out how we can play. That’s the thing with friendlies, you can experiment with a few things. Drawing against the Olympic champions is no small thing but we want to be winning those games.”

Wembley welcomed 73,346 fans through the door for today - a world record attendance for an international women’s friendly.

Sarina Wiegman has given her thoughts on today’s result.

“Very intense game,” she told ITV. “It is at the highest level. Defensively they play very high tempo. We had some moments.

“As a team, we defended really well and we could have pressed them. Also more the first half, we wanted to play oiut and then the final pass wasn’t right and we lost it too quickly. Lots of learnings from this game. Very intense game and hope everyone who watched it liked the team.

“We have four games. We are trying out things. When we are in possession we want to do 4-3-3 and then out it was 4-4-2. I think as a team we did really well and they overload the sides sometimes. Tactically, the team was really connected.”