England kicked off their 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign with a tense 1-0 win against Haiti.
Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses are one of the tournament favourites having travelled to the southern hemisphere as European champions, but they were made to work for their first three points of the group stage.
Les Grenadieres put up an admirable fight on their World Cup debut and should take confidence heading into their other group games.
England found themselves under the cosh in the opening minute, with returning captain Millie Bright giving the ball away cheaply and Haiti eventually forcing a corner when Jess Carter cleared a low cross into the box.
The Lionesses were able to assert themselves starting from the resulting corner with a quick but ultimately fruitless counter attack, while Alessia Russo brought Kerly Theus into her first save with a quick snap-shot on the five-minute mark.
Haiti went close to taking a shock lead when Melchie Dumornay managed to win an aerial duel against Bright and set Roselord Borgella racing away, but she scuffed her shot when clean through on goal. A late offside flag was raised but replays suggested the VAR decision would have been a tight one had Haiti scored.
England thought they were going to be handed a reprieve when Dayana Pierre-Louis brought down Chloe Kelly in the penalty area, but during a VAR review, Russo was judged to have tripped Tabita Joseph first and Haiti escaped.
They were, however, awarded a penalty when Batcheba Louis clearly handled the ball when trying to defend a corner.
Georgia Stanway stepped up but saw her top-corner bound effort pushed wide by Theus, though the Haiti goalkeeper was found to have stepped off her line and the penalty had to be retaken. The Bayern Munich midfielder made no mistake with her second attempt, sending Theus the wrong way.
Towards the end of the first half, Russo again went close when she rose highest to meet a wonderfully floated cross from Alex Greenwood, but she couldn’t keep her effort on target.
At the other end, Haiti caught England off guard with a clever corner routine which ended with Borgella glancing a header on, only for the ball to drop narrowly past the post.
Wiegman opted to swap the flanks that Lauren Hemp and Kelly were playing on for the second half, which immediately saw the latter weave in from the right and nearly force an own goal with a dangerous cross through the box.
Mary Earps was brought into her first save of the day when Lucy Bronze ceded possession and allowed Dumornay to have a pop at goal, with the Manchester United goalkeeper just about punching the ball to safety.
England sought to double their lead and again carved out two quick openings through Russo after winning the ball high up the pitch, but twice she was thwarted by Theus.
Russo continued to dominate the Haiti backline with another towering header, though once more found herself denied by the long arms of Theus.
With ten minutes to go, Earps came up with a huge save to keep England ahead. Nerilia Mondesir managed to swivel and turn away from Bronze and Jess Carter to set up Roseline Eloissant, with Earps spreading herself well to deny the forward from point-blank range.
Rachel Daly came off the bench and found herself having the same problem as Russo in that Theus was not in the mood to concede another goal. Kelly’s whipped cross was nodded towards goal by the Aston Villa striker but she was kept out by Haiti’s hero between the sticks.
England held on to secure the win but will need to improve if they are to beat Denmark and China.
GK: Mary Earps – 7/10 – Very audibly unhappy with how the defenders in front of her lacked sharpness and awareness. Did her own job well, mind.
RB: Lucy Bronze – 5/10 – One of England’s most experienced heads found herself chasing shadows for long stretches.
CB: Millie Bright – 4/10 – The skipper made her return after four months out and her rustiness was evident and expected. Needs further minutes to find her feet again.
CB: Jess Carter – 6/10 – Often tasked with sweeping up for the uncharacteristically haphazard Bright. Made a key tackle to deny Dumornay late on.
LB: Alex Greenwood – 6/10 – Delivery into the Haiti box was excellent and wasn’t the main reason as to why England looked so open at the back.
CM: Keira Walsh – 6/10 – Calm and composed on the ball but didn’t provide too much cover in front of a backline that could have used more help.
CM: Georgia Stanway – 6/10 – Scored from the penalty spot at the second attempt, which ultimately proved crucial to England’s chances.
RM: Chloe Kelly – 7/10 – Demonstrated her trickery on either flank. Unfortunate not to have won a penalty early in the day, picking up a nasty scratch down the shin for her troubles.
AM: Ella Toone – 6/10 – Threatened to open Haiti up with her trademark runs in behind and box-crashing, though wasn’t always picked out by her teammates.
LM: Lauren Hemp – 6/10 – Put in a couple of decent crosses in the first half but failed to provide a sustained threat.
CF: Alessia Russo – 7/10 – Set the tone from the front and dug in defensively when her teammates were struggling. On another day would have found a way to beat Theus, but it’s clear to see why Wiegman gave her the nod ahead of Rachel Daly.
Substitutes
Lauren James (61′ for Hemp) – 6/10
Rachel Daly (76′ for Russo) – 6/10
Manager
Sarina Wiegman – 6/10 – England were without several key players due to injury and they will need to play their way into form this tournament. Wiegman’s side at least started with a win despite looking ropey.
GK: Kerly Theus (8); RB: Betina Petit Frere (6), CB: Jennyfer Limage (N/A), CB: Tabita Joseph (6), LB: Kethna Louis (6); RM: Batcheba Louis (3), CM: Sherly Jeudy (6), CM: Dayana Pierre-Louis (6), LM: Nerilia Mondesir (7); CF: Roselord Borgella (7), CF: Melchie Dumornay (8)
SUBS: Ruthny Mathurin (6), Roseline Eloissaint (N/A). Florsie Joseph (N/A)
Manager: Nicolas Delepine (7)
