Arya News - England 6-1 Wales: The Lionesses were at times back to their ruthless best as they sent Wales home and advanced to the quarter-finals in style
There were important moments here. Lauren James was so effortlessly comfortable on the right wing. Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp scored their first goals of the tournament. Russo should have come away with more, but getting off the mark, in order to add to her overall contribution while leading the line, can always help with confidence. Ella Toone is in red-hot form, having now scored in both of her starts at this tournament.
Keira Walsh and Stanway controlled and were connected again in midfield, determined to regain the loose balls that had evaded them in the opener. A reconfigured defence also grew more familiar, with Alex Greenwood even coming inside and Lucy Bronze pushing higher and wide on the right to allow England to change their shape when in possession. The only gap Wales were able to find came from Hannah Cain’s consolation.

England"s Lauren Hemp, center, celebrates with teammates (AP)
England’s formation, in itself, was a confident move from Wiegman, who always planned for England to come into the tournament with more of an ability to adapt and be versatile. England have played three group games in three different ways, and with only one change between their starting line-ups. This one allowed James to take up central positions as Bronze pushed wide, while maintaining balance with Stanway, Walsh and Toone in the team. James, again, was a class above.
Then, when England were cruising towards the quarter-finals, Wiegman used her options on the bench. All of Aggie Beever-Jones, Jess Park, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead came on hungry to prove a point and the manner of Mead’s finish after cutting back inside suggested how vicious that competition is. That Mead and Beever-Jones also celebrated their second-half goals with the rest of the substitutes bench showed that competition remains healthy, but perhaps a few of the players who came on will go away wishing they had done a little more.

(Getty Images)
After all, Wiegman’s starting line-up for the rest of the Euros looks set ahead of the quarter-final against Sweden back in Zurich on Thursday . And based on their first-half performance and the lack of mercy they showed in pointing Wales on their way home, England are back in a ruthless mood as well.