Female World Cup: Super Falcons defeat Australia to go top Group B
The Super Falcons on Thursday rose to the top of their game at Brisbane Stadium to hand a shock 3-2 defeat to the Maltidas of Australia, the Female World Cup co-hosts, during their second Group B match.
The Falcon’s victory was sealed by two beautiful goals within eight minutes in the second half of the match and gave them the leadership of the group.
The match started with the Australians creating good chances to create problems for Chiamaka Nnadozie in goal for Nigeria and succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match in the dying minutes of the first half when Emily van Egmond scored with a left flip.
However, the Falcons were quick to react as Uchenna Kanu’s deft kick got the equaliser just by the stroke of half-time.
The second half started with both teams trying to gain the advantage. The Falcons took the lead in the 65th minute as Osinachi Ohale crashed the ball into the net with a header.
Substitute Asisat Oshoala in the 73rd minute deftly got through Alanna Kennedy and Mackenzie Arnold, the Australian goalkeeper, to expertly slot the ball into Australia’s goal to send the hosts fans into a stunned silence in the
Australia pulled a goal back through Kennedy in the 10th minute of added time.
Nigeria now needs just a draw in its last group match against Ireland, which has been technically eliminated from the tournament. For Australia, it is a must-win match against Canada in the last group match or it risked being the first Women’s World Cup host nation to fail to make it out of the group stage.
