England 1-0 Haiti
from Kris Goman at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane (22/7/23)
Above: Georgia Stanway steps up to take England’s penalty. Photo: Lionesses.
England were not particularly convincing tonight. Overall, the most that could be said was they got the win against the hardworking and hugely talented young Haiti side.
It was very hard to get into any groove in a very disjointed first half plagued by stoppages, injuries, and VAR checks. Even the penalty from Georgia Stanway that won them the match came in two parts and extended due to the Haiti keeper Théus leaving her line early and requiring a retake.
It was difficult to understand, at the ground, what the penalties were for initially as play had to be brought back for the handball after another VAR check was denied. Stanway made no mistakes on her second attempt at the penalty and put it to the left of Théus.
Haiti, on the other hand, threw themselves at everything. A couple of breakaways created some excitement and keep Earps on her toes and she was called on more than once to make a save.
England went in at half-time ahead and, while the stats were all in their favour, Haiti were clearly not to be taken for granted. They were on everything and interrupted the Lionesses’ possession game and threw them into disarray.
England looked more convincing in the second half but still couldn’t put anything away from the field despite many attempts.
Chloe Kelly came alive in the last 20 minutes, using the right-hand side to make inroads and the Manchester City star delivered some beautiful crosses under intense pressure. There was one near miss that Rachel Daly managed to connect with. On the other hand, there were also a couple of very underwhelming corners delivered to the near post and the Haitian defence were able to clear them easily.
England are one of the genuine contenders to win this tournament but that’s not going to happen with a performance like that. It seems some of the more fancied teams have difficulties with less disciplined teams and that was the case tonight. It was another physical contest and it probably won’t be the last.
For England, they take the points but Haiti showed they aren’t here to make up the numbers and could pull off a shock defeat in their first world cup. They’ve got nothing to lose after all.
Teams: ENGLAND (4-3-3): Earps, Bronze, Bright, Carter, Greenwood, Stanway, Walsh, Toone, Kelly, Russo, Hemp. Substitutes used: James (for Hemp 61′), Daly (for Russo 76′).
Scorer: Stanway (pen) 29′.
HAITI (4-2-3-1): Théus, Petit-Frère, Limage, Joseph, Louis, Jeudy, Pierre-Louis, Louis, Dumornay, Mondésir, Borgella. Substitutes used: Mathurin (for Limage 31′), Éloissaintat (for Borgella 78′), Joseph (for Louis 90+3′).
Referee: Emikar Caldera.
Attendance: 44,369.
WORLD CUP COVERAGE ON IMPETUS
TODAY:
TikTok and Instagram Reels (both can be found @ImpetusFootball):
- Denise Duffy reports on USA v Vietnam from Eden Park.
- Ruby Vince reports on England v Haiti.
- Denise Duffy & Jonathon Hagger report on Japan v Zambia from Waikato Stadium.
- Aimee Reynolds reports on Denmark v China.
TOMORROW:
- Analysis on England’s opener against Haiti from Genevieve Henry who was at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
COMING NEXT WEEK…
- Impetus makes the move to Australia for the rest of the World Cup as our number of contributors based at the tournament grows further.
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