After the goals and excitement of the first round of group stage games, Wednesday’s action saw more cagey affairs, with France dramatically winning on a controversial penalty kick.
Heres a roundup of Wednesday’s FIFA 2019 Women’s World Cup action.
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France 2-1 Norway
Les Bleus survived a scare as they defeated Norway in Nice. Norway was the brighter of the two nations to start, putting one shot wide in the opening minutes and and having a header from a corner kick saved off the line.
However, France came out flying in the second half and Amel Majri delivered a ball that was smashed home by Valerie Gauvin less than a minute into the half. Norway was given a lifeline as Wendie Renaud inexplicably failed to clear a cross, instead side-footing it into her own net in the 54th minute. However, France kept pushing and were rewarded as the VAR saw a foul in the box missed by referee Bibiana Steinhaus, leading to a penalty kick. Eugenie Le Sommer stepped up to the penalty spot and calmly finished into the corner to take France on to six points in Group A.
Germany 1-0 Spain
For the second consecutive match, Germany didn’t look like the world beater that made it one of the top five teams in the world. And yet, Die Manaschafft picked up another three points.
Scoring on a loose ball in the box, Germany held off Spain to move to the top of Group B with six points from two games. Sara Dabritz snuck in and deflected a goal-line clearance across the line in the 42nd minute, which proved to be the difference. Lucia Garcia looked to have drawn a penalty kick in the 87th minute but the referee, and VAR, waved away the appeals.
Nigeria 2-0 South Korea
Nigeria kept itself in the conversation to move on to the next round with a big win over South Korea in Grenoble. The Super Falcons were on the front foot all game long and the attacking pressure directly led to the first goal of the match in the 29th minute, an own goal off the foot of Do-Yeon Kim.
The African nation kept pushing for more and finally saw another breakthrough as the speedy Asisat Oshoala scored to make it 2-0 in the 75th minute, effectively knocking South Korea out of the competition, with no points or goals from their first two games. Nigeria meanwhile is tied with Norway and if the standings stay the same, they could potentially advance in third place.
