England 0-0 Nigeria (4-2 on penalties): Lauren James sent off as below-par Lionesses squeeze into Women's World Cup quarter-finals – Sky Sports
Football
Match report as England reached the quarter-finals after a dismal 120 minutes; the Lionesses were 4-2 winners in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw; Nigeria dominated but could not find the net; England will face Colombia or Jamaica in the last eight
Senior football journalist
Monday 7 August 2023 17:38, UK
A below-par England survived 120 minutes of Nigeria dominance to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, winning 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw, despite Lauren James’ petulant red card.
It was another game where the lesser-deserving team made it into the last eight on penalties, almost a carbon copy of the USA’s exit to Sweden.
After the delight of seeing Keira Walsh return to the XI following her knee injury, Sarina Wiegman stuck with a 3-5-2 that did so well against China. However, England reverted back to the laboured performances of the opening two group games, as Nigeria registered 20 shots to England’s 12.
The game got worse for them too as James (87) was sent off late in normal time after a frustrated and avoidable stamp on the back of Michelle Alozie.
It was reminiscent of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney at the 1998 and 2006 World Cups respectively – the young star lashing out and being penalised. She will now miss the quarter-final, and perhaps more if FIFA decides to punish her further.
Wiegman said the 21-year-old James’ sending off: “In a split-second, she just lost her emotions. And, of course, she does not want to hurt anyone. She is the sweetest person I know.
“Yet then things happen like that and you cannot change it any more. So it is a huge lesson for her to learn, but it is not something that she really did on purpose.”
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But somehow, England rode the wave of Nigeria pressure to take the game all the way to penalties. The shootout began with a Georgia Stanway miss, but this was followed by two further misses from the Super Falcons to hand the Lionesses control.
England did not let the advantage slip either, scoring the remainder of their spot kicks – the decisive penalty taken by Euro 2022 winning goalscorer Chloe Kelly – and booking a quarter-final spot, where they will face either Jamaica or Colombia.
Barring a successful appeal – which seems about as close to impossible as it could possibly be – Lauren James will automatically be suspended for England’s quarter-final with either Jamaica or Colombia.
But beyond that, it could be worse news for the Chelsea forward. FIFA rules state: “Depending on the nature of the red card, additional sanctions can be added by FIFA if necessary.”
James’ dismissal was for violent conduct, which is normally met with the harshest punishments across all levels of the game.
A three-match ban normally follows in those cases – and if that happens here, James’ tournament is over no matter how far England go.
It was a feverish first half in Brisbane in which Nigeria were the better side from the start. Alozie’s bullet header was met by an equally-powerful headed clearance from Alessia Russo. Former Leicester defender Ashleigh Plumptre then hit the crossbar with a superb hit, before her follow-up effort was pushed away by Mary Earps.
England’s first shot arrived in the 23rd minute as Russo took advantage of a Nigeria error, but her low shot was well-saved by Chiamaka Nnadozie. Rachel Daly’s half volley from a fine Alex Greenwood corner was also palmed away by the Nigeria goalkeeper.
But there was drama to come as England were awarded a penalty on the half hour. Rasheedat Ajibade was penalised for pulling Daly to the floor during a tussle inside the area, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot.
She was surrounded by Nigeria players pleading their case as Georgia Stanway lined up the spot kick. Then, the referee went over to the screen to review the decision before overturning the penalty.
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Two minutes after the break, Nigeria hit the bar for a second time. Ajibade played in a fine cross from the left, with Uchenna Kanu nodding the effort onto the woodwork. The Super Falcons continued to dominate the play and chances, with Kanu nodding wide from a corner later in the half.
England toiled but should have taken the lead in the 75th minute when Daly sent a powerful, free header goalwards, but an incredible reaction save from Nnadozie kept her at bay again.
Things went from bad to worse for the Lionesses when James was sent off. She tussled with Alozie and as the two went to stand up, James stamped on her lower back. After initially receiving a yellow card, it was rightly bumped up to a straight red after the referee once again consulted the pitchside monitor.
England were lucky to force extra-time, but did not improve in the additional 30 minutes. Although both teams began to tire, Nigeria continued to see the better of the play. Alozie sent an effort rifling into the side of the net before Asisat Oshoala fired a snapshot effort straight at Earps, as the tie eventually went to penalties.
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It looked like things would not go England’s way once more as regular penalty taker Stanway fired the first spot kick well wide. But Nigeria missed their next two penalties – sandwiched between Bethany England’s fine effort – to hand the Lionesses their first advantage of the game.
They did not let it slip either. Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and finally Kelly all found the net, firing England into the last eight.
England: Earps (7), Bronze (6), Bright (7), Greenwood (7), Carter (7), Daly (7), Walsh (7), Stanway (6), James (5), Hemp (5), Russo (6).
Subs used: Kelly (7), England (7), Zelem (n/a).
England manager Sarina Wiegman:
“I am really proud of the team. We have had many setbacks. I think this was a big one too.
“So, as soon as it looked like Lauren James was sent off, we straight away had to re-organise and do something else on the pitch.
“Then the conviction to keep [the score] to 0-0 and to try to get out of their press, that was just incredible. The players got really, really tired, but we really stuck together and showed a lot of resilience.
“When you are so tired and then go into a penalty shootout and do so well, I think that is really incredible how the team did.
“It was a really, really intense game. Nigeria have done really well in the group stage – as we all have seen. So we were not underestimating them at all and they showed what a good team they have. They were very well organised, very physical, very athletic.”
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England forward Chloe Kelly to BBC Sport:
“We dig deep as a group and believe in our ability. First and foremost, we believe in what we’re getting told to do.
“We’ve been practicing penalties a lot, and it’s working. For me, I was thinking I was going to score – once I win that mental battle, we’re good.
“This team is special, we did in the Euros, in the Finalissima, and we’ve done it again tonight. There’s more to come from this special team.”
Nigeria manager Randy Waldrum:
“I think we gave some teams in this tournament a blueprint of how to approach [stopping England]. We saw that China gave the back three too much time, then when you add that to James finding the space, it was a recipe for disaster for them.
“We knew we had to take James away and put some pressure on the back three. I thought it was really effective. They got frustrated and played more long balls. I thought they had difficulties breaking us down.
“They had moments getting the possession going but we pressed them more and got a little physical with them. I’m sure other teams will watch and think, ‘this gives us an idea of the way we need to play them’.”
England will face either Jamaica or Colombia in the quarter-finals, who play their last 16 game on Tuesday with kick-off at 9am.
The quarter final will be played on Saturday August 12, with kick off at 11.30am.
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8 with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
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