England beats Portugal 1-0 in friendly to end winless streak

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Beth Mead took advantage of a goalkeeping error to score the only goal as England beat Portugal 1-0 in a friendly on Tuesday to end a five-game winless streak dating back to the Women’s World Cup.

Mead poked the ball into an empty net midway through the second half after Portugal goalkeeper Patricia Morais tried to collect a cross but let it slip right through her hands.

The win will ease some pressure on coach Phil Neville, whose team had not won since the World Cup quarterfinals. It lost to the United States in the semifinals and to Sweden in the third-place playoff, then drew with Belgium and lost to Norway and Brazil after the tournament.

Portugal nearly equalized when Claudia Neto’s free-kick hit the the crossbar in injury time.