Chloe Kelly snatched England a tense 4-2 victory over Nigeria on penalties after a goalless draw, which sent the Lionesses into the Quarter-Finals of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
A physical encounter saw England denied a penalty by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the first half, before they were reduced to ten women after Lauren James’ 87th red card for a controversial stamp on Michelle Alozie.
Neither team found a breakthrough goal in extra-time but successful penalties from Bethany England, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood put England on course for the Quarter-Finals, which was confirmed when Kelly smashed their final penalty into the top-left corner to confirm their progression.
Speaking to BBC One post-match, Kelly described the win as “amazing” and proof that England can handle “anything that’s thrown at us we show what we’re capable of.
“We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability. We believe in what we’re told to do. We’ve been practicing a lot and it’s working.”
Kelly went on to iterate that the Lionesses shouldn’t be underestimated, as she concluded: “It’s the team, this team is special. We did it in the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima, we keep pushing forward and there’s more to come from this team.”
England will now face the winner of Colombia’s tie against Jamaica in the Quarter-Finals, at Stadium Australia , Sydney with kick-off at 11:30am UK Time on Saturday 12 August.
Australia meanwhile defeated Denmark 2-0 in the day’s other tie as Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso both found the net for the Aussies.
Pre-match, attention was upon England as Sarina Wiegman surprisingly named Keira Walsh in the starting line-up rather than bench, whilst sticking with the 3-4-1-2 formation which breezed past China in the Lionesses’ final group match.
Nigeria though proved no pushovers as they came through Group B unbeaten with two clean sheets, which they underlined with a strong defensive press to frustrate England in the opening minutes, whilst their one-touch football caused issues within England’s defence.
Such was Nigeria’s varied threat, Rasheedat Ajibade came close to putting the Super Falcons ahead in the 10th minute, but Mary Earps was alert to flap her cross behind.
Alozie then saw a header blocked three minutes later but the scares kept coming for England, as ex Leicester defender – Ashleigh Plumptre rattled the crossbar in the 17th minute before she almost found the near-left corner with her second shot but Earps made a crucial save.
England’s scrappy defending and patience was almost rewarded in the 23rd minute as Russo pounced upon a miskick but Chiamaka Nnadozie was alert to save her low shot.
Daly was the next player to test Nndozie but her shot five minutes later was also saved, but the Harrogate-born player was shoved to ground during a free-kick by Ajibade in the 30th minute.
Referee, Melissa Borjas initially awarded a penalty much to Nigeria’s fury but Video-Assistant-Referee (VAR) got involved, instead deeming the incident as pure contact rather than a foul and overturned Borjas’ decision to award a penalty.
Ajibade and Christy Ucheibe both saw chances denied to put Nigeria ahead in the 36th minute, whilst Plumptre headed wide from a corner.
England meanwhile continued to struggle to break down Nigeria’s organised defence but their best chances late in the first half fell to James, who twice rifled over the bar from corner clearances towards the edge of the box.
Nigeria though held on to keep England quiet into half-time, as the Lionesses failed to score in the first half of a Women’s World Cup match for the first time since their 1-0 win over Argentina in Group D in 2019
If England didn’t heed the warnings of the first-half then they rode their luck just two minutes into the second half, as Uchenna Kanu headed Ajibade’s cross wide, whilst Alozie flicked a loose header from a corner-kick wide in the 52nd minute.
England’s first chance of the second half came in the 55th minute as Russo headed wide from Alex Greenwood’s free-kick after Lauren Hemp had drawn a foul on the left flank from Osinachi Ohale.
Daly then flicked Georgia Stanway’s cross wide on the hour mark as England began to up their intensity.
Kanu meanwhile continued to cause issues with her aerial ability but headed wide from a 71st minute corner, as the tie began to move towards a knife-edge climax.
Nndozie had enjoyed a fine goalkeeping display to keep England quiet but she survived an almighty scare in the 76th minute, as Daly headed a powerful header upon goal from a corner, only for the Nigerian goalkeeper to make a crucial block and save Russo’s follow-up header.
Such was the tension amongst both teams, emotions boiled over in the 84th minute as Alozie tugged James to ground, and James in response upon getting up stamped on her back in the process as she attempted to chase the loose ball.
VAR however took a harsh view of the incident and following discussion with Borjas, it was decided that James’ stamp was intentional and the 21 year-old was shown the red card with England consequently reduced to ten women.
Neither team were able to find a breakthrough winner despite six minutes of injury-time, during which England looked the strongest as the tie headed to extra time after Chloe Kelly replaced Russo.
Fatigue however set in across both teams in the opening half of extra-time as England found themselves forced to defend for much of the half, although Nigeria struggled to carve out many opportunities as Alozie rifled a shot wide of the left corner in the 98th minute.
Alozie ealier attempted to win a penalty by going to ground following a soft collision with Lucy Bronze in the 92nd minute, but Borjas wisely waved away her dirty attempt to earn a spot-kick following the same level of minimal contact which saw England’s first-half penalty overturned by VAR.
With England on the back-foot, Wiegman substituted Hemp for England for the second-half of extra-time in hope of forcing a late winner.
Oshoala however went closest to winning the tie for Nigeria as she shot upon turn from close-range in the 117th minute, only for Bright to flick England’s header wide moments later for the Lionesses from a long free-kick.
Eventually there was no breakthrough goal as Wiegman’s Lionesses held out for penalties for only the third time at a Women’s World Cup, having lost to France at the Quarter-Finals stage in 2011 then beat Germany to win the Third-Place Play-Off in 2015.
Stanway was first up for England but rifled her penalty wide of the left post but Desire Oparanozie likewise put her shot wide in the same direction for Nigeria.
England then opened the scoring in the penalty shootout for the Lionesses with a calm shot down the middle, whilst Daly doubled their lead after Alozie smashed her penalty over the bar.
Ajibade eventually got Nigeria on the scoreboard with their third penalty which she duly dispatched down the middle, only for Greenwood to re-open England’s lead but Uchiebe reduced that gap to just one goal.
Kelly stepped up and calmly smashed England’s fifth penalty into the top left corner to send the reigning European champions through to the Quarter-Finals, whilst England are now unbeaten in their last two penalty shootouts at a Women’s World Cup.
Teams
England: Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Rachel Daly, Keira Walsh (Zelem 120′), Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp (England 105′), Lauren James, Alessia Russo (Kelly 88′)
Substitutes: Niamh Charles, Ella Toone, Jordan Nobbs, Hannah Hampton, Ellie Roebuck, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Esme Morgan, Bethany England, Katie Robinson, Laura Coombs, Chloe Kelly, Katie Zelem
Nigeria: Chiamaka Nnadozie, Michelle Alozie, Osinachi Ohale, Oluwatosin Demehin, Ashleigh Plumptre, Christy Ucheibe, Halimatu Ayinde (Echegini 90′), Rasheedat Ajibade, Toni Payne (Oparanozie 114′), Ifeoma Onumonu (Oshoala 58′), Uchenna Kanu (Ordega 81′)
Substitutes: Tochukwu Oluehi, Glory Ogbonna, Onome Ebi, Asisat Oshoala, Desire Oparanozie, Gift Monday, Francisca Ordega, Onyi Echegini, Rofiat Imuran, Esther Okoronkwo, Yewande Balogun,
Referee: Melissa Borjas (Honduras)
Attendance: 49,461
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