China v England as it happened: Lionesses run riot to reach knockouts
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Live commentary
90'+11 The referee blows for full-time.
90'+10 Linlin Wang replaces Jiahui Lou for China.
90'+9 Laura Coombs lines up a shot from distance but it goes flying over the bar.
90'+3 China's Dou Jiaxing comes on for Lingwei Yao and Shen Mengyu replaces Shen Mengyu.
90' There will be 11 minutes added on.
87' Mary Earps makes a fine save after a powerful effort on goal from Chen Qiaozhu.
84' VAR is checking for an offside. The goal stands!
84' Goal! 1-6 Rachel Daly gets in on the act as a few efforts are blocked after a bit of pinball in China's area. Daly eventually lets rip in acres of space as England grab another. They have been fantastic today.
80' Another substitution for England as Ella Toone comes on for Lauren James.
77' Goal! 1-5 Chloe Kelly capitalises on a huge mistake by China's keeper Yu Zhu, who misses the ball under no pressure to allow for a simple tap-in.
75' A couple of changes for China as Shuang Wang and Li Mengwen are replaced by Yasha Gu and Haiyan Wu.
72' The ball breaks for Beth England who crosses for Rachel Daly, but the effort is blocked. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
70' England are making a few changes: Niamh Charles replaces Lucy Bronze, Beth England comes on for Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly is on for Lauren Hemp.
65' Goal! 1-4 England begin to reassert their dominance and Jessica Carter knocks a dangerous floated ball in which Lauren James volleys into the top corner. An excellent finish, a possible goal of the tournament contender even.
60' China have started strongly in this second half and are putting England under far more pressure than in the first.
57' Goal! 1-3 Wang Shuang slots the penalty down the middle to pull one back for China.
56' The penalty is given and Lucy Bronze is booked.
54' VAR is checking for a possible penalty to China.
53' Lauren James gives the ball away and Chengshu Wu takes a shot from a long way out, which Mary Earps can only parry away. England are slightly troubled by the resulting corner and they're checking for a possible handball against Lucy Bronze...
46' England have made a sub at the break with Laura Coombs replacing Georgia Stanway.
46' The referee blows for the second half to begin.
45'+8 The referee blows the whistle for half-time.
45'+7 The goal is ruled out as Lucy Bronze was supposedly in an offside position. Not too sure about that one...
45'+6 The goal is under VAR review.
45'+4 Goal! 0-4 Another corner for England is initially cleared, but Lauren James picks up the ball on the edge of the box and yet again curls the ball into the back of the net with her left foot.
45'+4 Alessia Russo has plenty of bodies to aim for as she crosses from the right, but the ball is put out for an England corner which comes to nothing.
45' We'll have four minutes of added time.
44' The ball ricochets behind for another corner for China, Millie Bright eventually gets it away. Lou Jiahui gets close to finding a header from the follow-up cross but it evades everyone in the box.
41' Goal! 0-3 Lucy Bronze is fouled near the corner flag. The resulting free-kick is rolled by Alex Greenwood to Lauren James on the edge of the box, who curls it home. Easy stuff for England.
39' Lauren James is pinging passes for fun in this first half.
36' Another dangerous cross this time is met by Alessia Russo's head, which is tipped over. England get the corner which is punched away. Russo has another shot which is blocked, and China eventually escape.
32' Rachel Daly whips a wicked ball into the box but Lucy Bronze's header hits the woodwork and she just about scuffs her follow-up shot. England are in total control here and look like they have plenty more goals in them.
31' Lauren Hemp dances through the backline displaying some excellent footwork, but her strong effort is pushed away. She was marginally offside anyway.
29' China earn a corner off Lauren James, which Shuang Wang takes, but it's cleared away well by Millie Bright.
26' Goal! 0-2 China give the ball on the halfway line. Lauren James finds a sublime through ball to Lauren Hemp who makes no mistake, gliding it through for England's second.
20' England have had 78% possession so far in this game.
19' England earn a free kick about 30 yards out from goal. They try a training round routine that doesn't quite come off. They keep the pressure on though.
14' England counter with pace which results in another dangerous ball into the box by Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp almost gets to the ball but China's defenders make the challenge to stop the scoring opportunity.
11' Alessia Russo puts a dangerous ball in from the left which China keeper Yu Zhu gets a fingertip to.
10' England are lining up in more of a 3-4-3 formation which China are looking surprised by. England's wing-backs are finding a lot of space and looking dangerous.
8' England are dominating the early stages of this match, China are barely able to escape their half.
5' Goal! 0-1 England start strongly and transition well from the back. Alessia Russo initially attempts a cross from the left which is just about scrambled away, but she's there with a follow-up to slot the ball into the bottom left.
1' The referee gets the game underway.
Starting line-ups
Match preview
Such an outcome certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility as all games in this group have produced exactly one goal so far, including China’s win over Haiti and defeat to Denmark.
China boss Shui Qingxia has described her side as “no easy piece of cake” for England, and she will be hoping to guide her side to a place in the quarter-final after dropping out in the round of 16 last time around.
Yet hopes of such a positive outcome may not be high as, barring a handful of friendly wins over banned nation Russia, you’d have to go back to 2018 for China’s last victory over European nations (D3, L10).
As for their opposition, England now need just a point from this game to mathematically guarantee progression thanks to their pair of 1-0 victories in the opening rounds.
The England boss Sarina Wiegman has a selection headache after the influential Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh was stretchered off before half-time in round two, yet Wiegman will hope her Lionesses have enough to beat a side she says are “in transition”.
England may enter this clash with revenge on their minds after most recently losing 2-1 to China in 2015 before reaching the first of two consecutive WWC semi-finals.
Aiming high once again, the fact that no England WWC game since the third-place playoff of 2015 has been level after 90 minutes (W7, L2) may suggest they won’t be settling for just the required point here.
Players to watch: China’s Shuang Wang scored both of China’s goals in their latest victory over England and it was also her penalty goal which sealed their only win at this WWC. Barcelona and England full-back Lucy Bronze was part of the 2015 side that lost to China, yet she still needs a goal to maintain her record of scoring at every WWC she’s featured in (G3, A2).
Hot streak: Each of England’s last six WWC victories came without reply.
