Georgia Stanway scored twice and added an assist to get England’s World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start with a 6-1 victory over Ukraine in Antalya.
The ongoing war in the hosts’ home country saw the contest staged in Turkey, where Ukraine stubbornly held strong in a goalless first half.
Alessia Russo got the scoring started with a quickfire double after the break before Yana Kalinina replied two minutes before the hour.
Stanway restored England’s two-goal advantage with a penalty six minutes later, then found the back of the net again with 20 minutes remaining before Jess Park fired in two more.
Russo had forced Kateryna Samson into a save as the game got underway, and Ukraine were dealt an early blow when Glasgow City forward Nicole Kozlova went down off the ball and was removed from the pitch on a stretcher.
A lovely Stanway delivery nearly resulted in another chance for Russo, who nodded over as England continued to pile on the pressure.
Laura Blindkilde Brown had an effort blocked, then came even closer when she tried to recycle the rebound, cannoning it off the underside of the crossbar, and Lotte Wubben-Moy nearly opened the scoring with a backheel, cleared off the line by Maryna Shaynyuk just after the half-hour mark.
England might have wanted a penalty when Stanway was tugged back, but the Bayern Munich midfielder remained upright and, with no VAR available, the referee waved play on.
The visitors could not find a breakthrough by the break despite Leah Williamson’s effort from distance, straight at Samson, while Lauren Hemp could only fire wide following a mazy run.
Sarina Wiegman made two changes after the interval, bringing on London City Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson for her England debut while Esme Morgan replaced Williamson and Hemp switched sides with fellow winger Park.
It took just two second-half minutes for Russo to break the deadlock. The Arsenal striker was slipped through by Keira Walsh, then stood down her defender and tucked into the bottom corner.
Wiegman’s winger switch then paid off in the form of a second goal for Russo, who received Hemp’s cut-back and tapped home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Ukraine clawed a goal back after some miscommunication from England resulted in a rare free-kick for the hosts, whipped in well by Veronika Andrukhiv and dropping for Kalinina to apply the finish after the Lionesses failed to clear their lines.
But soon Hemp was dragged down by Kateryna Korsun and this time the referee pointed to the penalty spot, with Stanway sending Samson the wrong way.
Stanway scored her second just six minutes later, patiently picking out the top corner and giving Samson no chance when she powered home with 20 minutes remaining.
Stanway turned provider, squaring a pass for Park to poke home from a central run in the 78th minute. And the Manchester United midfielder then scored her second in style with a minute remaining as her top-corner finish put the game to bed.
