Women’s World Cup: Lionesses lucky to beat Haiti in opening game

A Georgia Stanway penalty was enough for England to see off tournament debutants Haiti in their opening match of the Women’s World Cup.

The Bayern Munich midfielder’s initial spot kick was saved by Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus but VAR showed she had stepped off her line. Stanway then stepped up to put the ball in the bottom left corner at her second attempt.

England were expected to seal the win with ease against the world’s 53rd-ranked side, but it was Haiti who looked more impressive for most of the match.

The Lionesses spot kick came on the half-hour mark after Batcheba Louis’s calamitous handball to deflect a cross. Stanway had previously scored all seven of her England penalties but Theus denied her this time. When VAR called the penalty back though, Stanway made no mistake to give England the lead.

Goalkeeper Mary Earps was called into action in the second half to keep the threat of Melchie Dumornay and Roseline Eloissaint at bay.

Eloissaint had the best chance of the game but Earps pulled off a superb save to deny her from close range.

Sarina Wiegman’s side will need to improve if they are to beat Denmark next Friday.

Cover Photo: “three lions. home.” by William Brawley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.