Lionesses on brink of World Cup knockout stages after victory over Denmark
28 July 2023, 14:28
England have beaten Denmark 1-0 in their second Group D game at the Women's World Cup, putting them on the brink of the knockout stages.
Lauren James put the Lionesses ahead after just six minutes with stunning strike from the edge of the box, which proved to be the decider in Sydney.
Though it was the only goal scored in the game, England put on a bright, attacking performance, with James continuing the impress throughout.
But a worrying injury to Keira Walsh dampened what was a positive performance for England after the Barcelona midfielder was stretchered off with a knee injury after 38 minutes.
England may not even need to win their next game to progress through to the last 16, but a point against China on Tuesday would mean the qualify in first place.
Walsh's injury gave Denmark a lift as former Chelsea striker Pernille Harder went close just before half time.
Denmark continued to threaten in the second-half, with both Rikke Madsen and Janni Thomsen coming close.
They almost equalised in the 90th minute, but the Lionesses held strong for a deserved 1-0 victory.
"It's all about winning games of course. We also want to play well. But we never take anything for granted," said England manager Sarina Wiegman.
"We have to work really hard every time we play any game. We are really happy with the 1-0 in the end and that's what counts."
It comes after what was widely seen as a sluggish start from Wiegman's team against Haiti, who they also beat 1-0 in their opening Women's World Cup fixture.
Wiegman said she is proud of her players, especially after Walsh's injury.
"When Keira [Walsh] got injured, we had to find our feet again. We needed to adapt to a new situation then and we really showed our resilience. I'm very proud of the team and how we did that," she told 5Live.
Denmark manager Sondergaard said: "England got confidence through a beautiful goal. Then we grew into the game. If we had been good enough or precise enough we could have punished them.
"In the second half we went out playing with a little bit more confidence and we saw that England got a little insecure.
"I'm happy with the way we ended the game. I would say we did very well against a good England team. I feel sorry for England that they lost Walsh and I hope it's not as bad as it looks."
