England avoided a scare to reach the quarter finals
England avoided a huge scare as they beat Nigeria on penalties to advance through to the quarter finals of the women’s World Cup.
It was the Lionesses most underwhelming performance of the tournament so far as they struggled to make any major impact on the game as their opposition had the bulk of the best chances.
Sarina Wiegman’s side were dealt a huge blow three minutes from time though as Lauren James was sent off for a straight red card after she stamped on Michelle Alozie, leaving England with a one-player disadvantage heading into extra time.
Despite having one player less, England were able to keep out Nigeria as they took the game all the way to penalties.
Georgia Stanway missed the first spot-kick however Beth England, Rachel Daly and Alex Greenwood all converted before Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty to take them through to the last eight.
While the rest of her teammates celebrated their success, Kelly rushed to immediately console Chiamaka Nnadozie, who was visibly distraught after she was unable to help keep Nigeria in the competition before telling the cameras to stop zooming in on the rest of the Nigeria squad, who couldn’t hide their disappointment.
After the game, the Euro 2021 winner admitted that she knew she was going to score as the Lionesses progress to the last eight and remain one of the favourites to win the tournament.
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