By Victor Kanayo
England are through to the quarter-final of the ongoing Women’s World Cup after beating Nigeria’s Super Falcons 4-2 on penalties in the round of 16 clash on Monday.
The game which ended in a goalless draw at the regular 90 minutes and extra time, was decided with penalty shootout after the Super Falcons failed to covert glaring chances.
The England team will now wait till Tuesday to know their next opponent at the quarter-final of the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
Nigeria had an impressive first 45 minutes, hitting the woodwork through Plumptre, while Ajibade and Kanu were dangerous throughout the half.
England struggled in the first 45 minutes, not creating much at all but could’ve gone ahead when the referee awarded a penalty to them but was overturned after a VAR review.
With the first half ending goaless, just two minutes into the second half, the woodwork again denied Nigeria the lead.
The Super Falcons kept mounting the pressure on the Lionesses creating chances upon chances.
With frustration on the English side, they got reduced to 10 players in the 87th minutes after the referee upgraded Lauren James yellow card to red following a VAR review.
Nigeria made their numerical strength count in the extra time, largely dominating the game as the English sat back to defend.
Failure to convert created chances by Nigeria pushed the game into the penalty shootout as there was nothing to separate both sides after 120 minutes of play.
