A stunning goal from Lauren James was enough for England to beat Denmark in their second group game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The 1-0 win means that the Lionesses have all but booked their place in the knockout stages and it will be officially confirmed if China fail to beat Haiti in the other Group D game later on Friday.
Sarina Wiegman made two changes from the side that underwhelmed against Haiti, with Jess Carter and Lauren Hemp dropping out for Rachel Daly and James.
These were changes that many fans and pundits had wanted to see and they instantly paid off with Daly setting up James for the winning goal – a stunning strike from outside the box – after just six minutes.
The Chelsea forward, whose brother Reece also plays for the Blues and England, continuously caused problems for the Danish defenders, testing goalkeeper Lene Christensen twice more in the opening 20 minutes.
The Lionesses were in complete control during this period, but just as in their opening game they were shaky at the back and susceptible on the counter.
Denmark used this to their advantage, managing to create three very good opportunities in quick succession only for Rikke Madsen and Janni Thomsen to miss the target, while Pernille Harder’s shot was well-saved by Mary Earps.
England managed to get the game under control again but were dealt a huge blow when midfielder Keira Walsh went down with a knee injury and was left in tears as she was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
From there, chances for both sides became few and far between, with Alessia Russo and Lucy Bronze firing powerful efforts just wide while substitute Bethany England headed over.
And the Lionesses were nearly made to pay for not sealing the three points sooner, with Amalie Vangsgaard header hitting the post in the 87th minute after a brilliant run that completely caught out Daly.
While a win is a win, there are still questions to be asked about England’s defence which has been uncharacteristically sloppy at this tournament.
A point from their final group game against China on Tuesday will see England qualify as group winners and play either Nigeria, Canada or Australia in the round of 16.
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