England go through by the skin of their teeth and Australia cruise into the quarter-finals after defeating Denmark today at the Women’s World Cup…
England 0 Nigeria 0 (4-2 on penalties)
England just squeezed through to the quarter-finals after a difficult challenge against a relentless Nigeria.
Nigeria had a big chance in the 16th minute of the game which gave England a big shock. Ashleigh Plumptre fired th ball towards the goal and hit the bar to prevent Nigeria from going ahead.
At the opposite end, Chiamaka Nnadozie made a huge stop after Rachel Daly volleyed a superb ball from Alex Greenwood at goal, but the Nigerian keeper did well to punch the effort away.
England looked to have been gifted a golden opportunity after Daly was shoved to the floor inside the box, with the referee pointing straight to the spot, but after a VAR check the ref was called to the monitor and this decision was overturned.
The game changed in the 85th minute when Lauren James received a yellow card for a foul on Michelle Alozie, however after a VAR check for serious violent conduct the original decision was overturned and she was instead shown a straight red and meant the Lionesses went down to 10.
England managed to just hold off Nigeria throughout extra time and forced the game to penalties.
Georgia Stanway stepped up first but hit her shot wide. Substitute Desire Oparanozie went first for Nigeria however missed in a similar fashion. Michelle Alozie also missed and it was down to Chloe Kelly yet again to score the winner for England, which she did in incredible fashion.
England will now play either Colombia or Jamaica on Saturday.
Australia 2 Denmark 0
Embed from Getty ImagesThe World Cup hosts steamed into the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win against Denmark.
Denmark had some early chances, including through Amalie Vansgaard who curled an effort towards goal however it went straight to Mackenzie Arnold.
The pace of Caitlin Foord proved too much for Denmark’s defence as she burst inside the box and fired a shot between the legs of Christensen from a tight angle to put the Matildas ahead in the 29th minute.
Australia went into the second half hungry for more and got their second in the 70th minute when the ball fell to an unmarked Hayley Raso in the box who blasted into the back of the net.
Pernille Harder was quiet throughout the game but got a good chance when the ball fell to her feet but she wasn’t able to get a clean shot away.
Sam Kerr finally made her first appearance in this World Cup to a huge roar around the stadium when she came onto the pitch.
Denmark couldn’t find any way through, and the game ended 2-0 to Australia sending them through to play either France or Morocco.
