Mead gives England winning start in European Championship

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Beth Mead scored the only goal of the game as host England beat Austria 1-0 in front of a tournament-record crowd of 68,871 at Old Trafford in the women’s European Championship opener. Mead skillfully flicked the ball over Austria goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger in the 16th minute but it needed goal-line technology to prove it had just crossed the line before being cleared. England dominated long stretches of possession but couldn’t create many clear chances. The 16-team tournament kicked off a year later than originally scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic. There are hopes it will further boost the fast-growing audience for women’s soccer in Europe with more than 500,000 tickets having been sold.