England are through to the quarter-final of the Women's World Cup after an agonising 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Nigeria in the last-16 knockout round. The Lionesses had been reduced to 10 players late on when Lauren James was sent off for an off-the-ball incident, with VAR intervening to upgrade the decision from a yellow card. But they held on valiantly for penalties with Chloe Kelly producing the winning spot-kick to send them through to the last eight after a cagey tie.
The Super Falcons started the better of the two sides and only the crossbar denied Ashleigh Plumptre early on when the Leicester defender struck a thunderous volley from 25 yards out, only to see it smash against the upright with goalkeeper Mary Earps beaten.
Chances arrived far and few between for Sarina Wiegman's side, who looked leggy and lacking in inspiration. James was far from her influential self in behind Alessia Russio and Lauren Hemp as Nigeria's resilient backline frustrated England.
On the half-hour mark, England thought they had a penalty when the referee pointed to the spot after Rachel Daly was shoved over the box. But after a lengthy pitchside review, the official changed her mind and overturned the decision. Two minutes after the interval, Nigeria hit the crossbar again after a header at the far post from Kanu to give England another warning sign.
Lauren James: The England Women star was sent off. (Image: FIFA)
But their chances of winning the game in normal time took a huge blow when James, involved in a minor scuffle with Alozie on the floor, stood on the Nigerian player's back. Having initially received a yellow card, James knew she was in trouble when the referee ran over to the monitor and upgraded the card from yellow to red.
England held on valiantly with Nigeria rarely troubling Earps in goal and, after 120 minutes without a goal, it headed to penalties.
Georgia Stanway missed her first spot kick but luckily for England, Nigeria fluffed their lines too from the spot as Oparadozie and Alozie both missed from 12 yards. With the score at 3-2 in the shootiut, Chloe Kelly had the chance to make herself a hero and she fired home into the top corner to send England through after a nervy last-16 clash.
Beth England has admitted losing Lauren James for the quarter-finals is a huge blow for England but the Lionesses star is confident one of her team-mates will step up in her absence.
James will miss the last-eight tie against Colombia or Jamaica after his red card and England is hopeful it is not the last time the 21-year-old plays at the tournament.
“We all know Lauren is magic, she is our weapon and it’s a big loss for us but we can’t change that now. We have an unbelievable squad and players who can fill in in that position and hopefully we can see her again in the tournament.”
Tears. Joy. There has to be a winner in knockout football and today, it's England. On another day, Chiamaka Nnadozie's efforts might have got Nigeria through.
The 22-year-old struggled to hold back the tears after losing the shootout and it was nice to see England's players consoling her. True sportswomanship.
"It was intense. Maybe it was exciting for the fans, I don't know. But it was a tough, tough game to play in.
"We knew what Nigeria were about, they're physical and able to get up and down the pitch. I'm impressed with them, they're outstanding. It's the start of something big for them for sure.
"No one likes a penalty shootout, we've just been practicing day in, day out, some have gone in and some didn't. Look at Georgia, I've never seen her miss a penalty, so it's fine margins. But credit to us as a team to get over the line with 10 players."
"It's amazing. Anything that this team thrown at us, we showed what we're capable of. We dug deep, we believe in our ability and first foremost, we believed in what we were being told to do.
On penalties:"We've been practicing a lot actually and yeah, it's working! For me, it was that I was going to score. Once I won that mental battle, I was good.
"This team is special, we did it in the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima and there's more to come from us."
Sometimes, you don't have to be the best to be champions. England certainly weren't today and Nigeria will be wondering how they're coming away with a defeat.
But it's that toughness that proves the difference. England found strength after Lauren James was sent off and they got their reward.
It's been tense and on two occasions, VAR has intervened to penalise England. Now we're set for extra time - and England will have to do without their star player James.
On the balance of play, Nigeria might be disappointed they haven't wrapped it up in 90 minutes. Another 30 minutes of absorbing play coming up.
A moment of petulance costs her after clashing on the floor with Alozie. The referee initially shows a yellow card, but after being told to look at the monitor, James is shown a straight red.
That means whatever happens now, she will be out of the next match at least.
England are down to 10 players. Will they hold on?
The corner comes in from Greenwood and Daly leaps high to meet the delivery. She powers a bullet header towards goal and Nnadozie does well to keep it out.
On the rebound, Hemp tries to keep it alive but Nigeria clear.
That was England's biggest chance by some distance, which says a lot about the precious few opportunities they have been afforded.
Asisat Oshoala has been summoned from the bench to try to find the winner for Nigeria. The only question is whether she is fit enough to make an impression.
There's a reason why the Barcelona forward is a five-time African footballer of the year. She is a huge threat.
Lauren James has only had 20 touches in that first half. By her standards, she's been quiet. Keira Walsh is another player who hasn't been involved at all.
If anything, the steely backline of Carter, Bright and Greenwood have been crucial in keeping a clean sheet so far.
It's not been a vintage performance by any means from England. And they will need to step it up if they want to avoid extra-time, even if they shaded the first half on the balance of play.
The referee points to the spot after Daly is shoved by Ajibade inside the box. But then VAR intervenes, telling her to give it another look on the touchline.
Good response from England since that Plumptre effort, almost as if it's kicked them into life.
Greenwood swings in the corner and it falls to Daly, who reacts first with a snapshot volley. But it's straight at Nnadozie and Nigeria just about hack it away.
It's been a tense opening period Down Under but England are finding their feet... slowly but surely.
Oh my word. Ashleigh Plumptre nearly pulled off one of the goals of the tournament there.
She picks up the bouncing ball 25 yards out and thunders an effort first time. Earps has absolutely no chance as it whistles towards her goal before crashing off the underside.
It's all England so far and that is what many would expect from the opening stages, but no chances of note just yet.
Nnadozie looked a little bit nervy when coming out to claim a corner, though, and England may be looking to capitalise on that with their deliveries throughout the game.
The Lionesses are out on the pitch for a warm-up and they've had a warm reception from the fans in Milton, with plenty of England support inside the stadium.
Spirits are high as they go through their warm-up drills and there's a good energy to how they are approaching the routines. Needless to say, they are up for this.
Having already seen the reigning champions USA knocked out and Germany crash out in the group stage, Sarina Wiegman is taking nothing for granted ahead of today's clash.
"What we have seen in this tournament is that nothing is easy," she told reporters. "The growth of the game has shown in this tournament.
"We've not had an easy game at all and that's what we expect, that it will be very competitive and we need to be at our best.
"Everyone who plays us wants to beat us. That's nothing new. The games have been very competitive. Nobody can be complacent because that's inappropriate.
"I think Nigeria have done really well in this tournament and were in a very hard group. We all saw they did very well.
"They are an athletic team, quick in the transition and also want to play. We are aware of their strengths. What we will try to do is exploit their weaknesses."
England are renowned for their slow starts at tournaments but Wiegman's side look to be in their groove after blowing away China last time out, with Lauren James very much at the forefront of their play.
The Lionesses saved their best until the last game after cagey encounters against Haiti and Denmark, beating China 6-1 to make it a perfect record in the group stage.
Nigeria showed their resilience by going unbeaten too, knocking out Australia and holding Canada to a draw. They are competing in the knockout rounds for the third time in the tournament's history and five games unbeaten, suggesting it won't be a straightforward task for the Lionesses.
Sarina Wiegman has once again opted for a back three after watching the system work well against China in that 6-1 thrashing last time out.
The good news for England is that Keira Walsh is fit again after returning to training on Sunday, despite suffering an injury earlier in the tournament. She replaces Katie Zelem in the starting XI in the only change.
As for Nigeria, Barcelona forward Asisat Oshoala is on back on the bench as she continues her journey back to full fitness, with Ifeoma Onumonu starting instead.
Hello and welcome to Express Sport's LIVE coverage of England Women's last-16 World Cup tie against Nigeria.
Get yourselves a cup of tea or coffee and strap yourselves in for what could be a close encounter Down Under.
We will have all of the team news and build-up to follow.
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