England won without star Lauren James, who was ejected with a red card, to beat Nigeria on penalty kicks Monday and advance to the quarterfinals at the Women’s World Cup. Know more:
BRISBANE, Australia—England won without star Lauren James, who was ejected with a red card, to beat Nigeria on penalty kicks Monday and advance to the quarterfinals at the The round of 16 match ended 0-0 after regulation and extra time, giving Nigeria a chance to win a knockout match at the Women’s World Cup for the first time in nine trips to the global tournament.
She initially was given a yellow card by referee Melissa Borjas after falling on top of Michelle Alozie and stepping on her with her studs as James climbed off Alozie. The crowd groaned as slow-motion replays on the stadium screens showed the play, and, after a delay of several minutes, the yellow card was replaced with a red card.
Alozie was clear eight minutes into stoppage time but couldn’t control a left-foot shot from seven yards and skewed it wide of the post. “It’s amazing. Anything that’s thrown at us. We’ve shown what we’re capable of,” Kelly said in a post-match TV interview. “We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability. This team is special. We keep pushing forward—there’s more to come from this special.”
Uchenna Kanu threatened with two headers in the second half, one two minutes after the break that went just over the crossbar and another in the 72nd when she leaped to meet a corner kick but nudged back past the near post. England had scored in the first half of its previous eight World Cup games, but wasn’t able to beat Nigeria captain Nnadozie with two shots on target.