Star forward Megan Rapinoe was a surprising late scratch with a hamstring injury (she says she'll be fine for Sunday) so it took some different players to step up: namely Christen Press (who started in her place) and superstar Alex Morgan (who was celebrating her 30th birthday) along with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher who made a brilliant save in the first half with a diving stop, only to raise the stakes much higher with a penalty kick save on England's captain Steph Houghton in the 84th minute. Believe it or not, that was the first time in USWNT history that one of their goalkeepers had stopped a penalty kick in a World Cup. That would have tied the match at two goals apiece but the English crumbled after that with defender Millie Bright picking up her second yellow card thus earning a red card in the 86th minute.
From the start, there were plenty of twists and turns as for the sixth time in six matches this tournament, the U.S. scored a goal in the opening 12 minutes of play. Wouldn't you know that it came from Press (her 1st of this World Cup and only the 2nd WC goal of her career)? Defender Kelley O'Hara played a perfect cross to Press who was somehow unmarked in the box so she was able to knock in a powerful header to the upper left corner of the net in the 10th minute. In a candid postgame interview she said was inspired by what she sees teammate Carli Lloyd do in training every day.
England was not deterred in the least bit as their star striker Ellen White scored her World Cup leading (for the moment anyway) sixth goal in the 19th minute. She made a beautiful redirection (with her right foot) of Beth Mead's cross that went off the post and by Naeher who could only watch it clank by. That sequence reminded me of the Spain matchup in the Round of 16 for the Americans since the Spanish were able to quickly answer the U.S.' patented early strike.
After not scoring for four matches (1 of which she sat out), Morgan somehow became the first ever woman to score on her birthday at the World Cup (nice stat but seriously, how is that possible?) in the 31st minute. Her goal was pretty similar to Press' as Lindsey Horan (starting in place of Sam Mewis) chipped a ball onto a running Morgan to head past England's goalkeeper Carly Telford. It's weird that England was so clueless on those two scoring plays for the U.S. since their head coach is Phil Neville, a legendary English defender for Manchester United and the English national team not that long ago. Morgan's goal was her sixth in the tournament but first against anyone other than doormat Thailand. She takes the lead in the race for the Golden Boot since she also has three assists (more than White) which apparently comes into play as well.
I haven't hesitated to knock midfielder Rose Lavelle earlier in this World Cup because I couldn't grasp just what head coach Jill Ellis really saw in her. Today's performance made me a believer as Lavelle was lively on the ball with a bunch of clever moves and scoring chances that she created all on her own. She's been plagued by hamstring injuries the last few years so it truly was a shame to see her go down with what appeared to be another one in the 64th minute (Mewis replaced her). She also claimed after the win that she'll be OK for Sunday but we'll have to see about that.
With a one-goal lead, the U.S. actually dodged two serious chances as White temporarily tied it in the 67th minute but our old friend VAR (video assistant referee) ruled that she was offside (by an eyelash). Too easily, the U.S. central defenders allowed her to slip through and beat Naeher to the ball for the goal. If you want to say that the Americans got lucky on that decision, I'll grant you that but then it must have been some sort of cosmic justice when England's shady penalty kick earned by White (after Becky Sauerbrunn accidentally touched her feet causing her to do a face-plant in the box) turned into Naeher's best play of her life. White was clearly England's most dangerous offensive threat so I would have let her take the PK but I'm guessing that Houghton was better on them at practice (when it couldn't matter less). Naeher dove low to her right which is exactly where Houghton put her ill-fated attempt. That resulted in a huge in-game celebration for the U.S. as a bunch of players surrounded Naeher and hugged her before she shooed them away since you know, there was still some time left on the game clock.
Ellis loves those 80+ minute subs in close games which drives me crazy but hey, I guess that it doesn't matter. Lloyd came on for Tobin Heath in the 80th minute and Ali Krieger took out O'Hara in the 87th minute. A fresh Lloyd was able to waste time perfectly, drawing two free kicks from the exhausted English who at that point were had only 10 players left on the field thanks to Millie's clumsy challenges. In the buildup to this much-anticipated battle, Neville had hyped his defender Lucy Bronze as "the best player in the world." Of course, she is a great player but I'm sure that only motivated the U.S. even more to shut her down since she was barely heard from this evening.
Personally, I'm rooting for the Netherlands to beat Sweden since we already saw the U.S. beat the Swedes 2-0 in the group stage finale on June 20. Yes their rivalry with the Swedes is fun but I'd rather watch them face the Dutch who are a serious contender now after winning the European Championship in 2017. England plays in their second third-place match in a row on Saturday afternoon (11 a.m., FOX) against the loser of tomorrow's all-Euro match. Hopefully Rapinoe's hamstring holds up as nobody deserves to play on Sunday in that setting more than our favorite pink/purple-haired hero after her incredible outings vs. Spain and France. Regardless, the U.S. will be the heavy favorite with a 2-1 final score feeling like the lock of the century after they've done that three games in a row vs. European competition. Sunday should be another ratings bonanza for the USWNT and women's soccer/sports in general as they shoot for their fourth World Cup title back in Lyon.
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