England were able to overshadow their opening fixture woes with an imposing victory over Mexico, putting Mark Sampson’s side in a favourable position to reach the last 16.
Fran Kirby – who has faced a colossal rollercoaster to be in Canada this summer – provided the Three Lionesses with the first goal of the campaign, before substitute Karen Carney added a second in the closing minutes.
The initial defeat to France left England bottom of the group, but a shock victory for Colombia over the Blues provided a golden opportunity for the girls from the British Isles to climb into second, and overtake their European rivals, albeit on goal difference only.
Sampson’s first ever World Cup win as England boss came courtesy of an inspired performance by 21-year-old Kirby, who is the only player in squad to ply her trade outside the WSL 1.
Before the match, Sampson had openly expressed his desire to field a more attacking line-up this time out, but it took some time for his front three – of Kirby, Toni Duggan and Eniola Aluko – to break the deadlock.
The decision to start the Reading forward was a bold one from Sampson but Kirby repaid her manager’s faith with the opening goal and England’s first of the campaign on 70 minutes.
However, before the breakthrough chances weren’t hard to come by for England and Aluko came close before the break, connecting with the crossbar, before Mexican goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago did well to prevent Duggan from also opening the scoring in the early stages of the clash.
Karen Bardsley was rarely tested by the Central American side ranked 19 places below England, but the US-born shot-stopper almost gifted them an opening goal, when her kick deflected off defender Laura Bassett and fell kindly to Renae Cueller.
Nonetheless, England improved as the game matured, and the introduction of Alex Greenwood and Carney from the bench provided to be another fine tactical decision from the boss, as the two combined just 12 minutes after Kirby’s opener to double England’s advantage. Carney making the most of an inch-perfect delivery by Greenwood to head home and appear to secure the win.
With Bardsley making another mistake late in the game, spilling a shot in injury time, Mexico were able to claw back a consolation goal through Fabiola Ibarra – sparking a late push for an equaliser, but despite their attacking threat, England proved their worth to take maximum points after a nervous conclusion.
The victory for the Three Lionesses puts them in good stead to reach the knockouts although they will have to beat Colombia to secure their passage after the South American outfit pulled off the shock result of the tournament, beating France who are ranked third in the world. That said, a point in their final group outing could be enough for England if other results go their way but there will be concern for Sampson over the fitness of Lucy Bronze, as he was forced to substitute the defender through injury in the 85th minute.
