OTTAWA – Steph Houghton and Lucy Bronze scored second-half goals as England rallied to a 2-1 win over Norway on Monday in the knockout stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
After a near fatal giveaway in the first half, Bronze took a shot from just above the penalty box and beat Norwegian ‘keeper Ingrid Huelmseth in the 76th minute with the eventual winner.
Solveig Gulbrandsen had given Norway a 1-0 lead early in the second half, but the Norweigians were unable to find the equalizer.
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England will face Canada next Saturday at Vancouver’s B.C. Place in the tournament’s quarter-final.
Norway celebrated when Gulbrandsen got her head on a corner from teammate Lene Mykjaland and put the ball just barely across the England goal-line in the 54th minute.
Up until that point, it was Norway that had been carrying play against the higher-ranked English side.
But as much as the field seemed to be tilted in Norway’s favour up to that point, a quick strike by England in the 61st minute tied the match a 1-1 and gave the Lionesses the momentum.
Houghton tucked a header just inside the post past Huelmseth, who had seen far less action up to that point than her counterpart Karen Bardsley.
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Huelmseth did make a terrific diving stop in the 80th minute to keep that match at a 2-1 difference.
While the opening goal was her first real test of the second half, Bardsley kept the game scoreless into halftime with some key stops.
Norwegian forward Isabell Herlovsen was sent in all alone on Bardsley with a beautiful ball, but England’s ‘keeper charged out quickly from her goal and made a save with Herlovsen bearing down in the 12th minute.
Bardsley got a little lucky when midfielder Kristine Minde got in behind the defence but put a shot just to the outside of the post.
After a bad ball back by Bronze in the 39th minute, Ada Hegerberg got in alone only to be stopped by Bardsley who again raced from her net to take away any angle minimize the scoring chance.
Bardsley was rewarded with not only a trip to the quarter-final but also the player of the game.
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