England ends Australia's World cup dreams by reaching their 1st ever FIFAWWC final

 

The Lionesses have finally ended the  Matildas fairytale in a game billed as the biggest for the hosts in their history   .  England  has  reached their first ever Women’s World Cup final after an emphatic  3-1 victory over Australia on Wednesday despite a wonder goal from Matildas striker Sam Kerr . Attacking midfielder Ella Toone had given England a first-half lead but a glorious goal from captain

Kerr levelled the scores in the second half but the   Aussie euphoria was shortlived as Lauren Hemp restored England’s lead before Alessia Russo got the insurance goal to put the issue beyond doubt with minutes remaining.  

England, who could not surpass the  semi-final stage in the previous two World Cups , now face a talented  Spain on Sunday to add to their reigning  European title . 

England played ball possession game with occasional strong physical tackles which made the hosts struggle   and nullified Australia's attacking options. Aussie skipper Sam Kerr in particular bore the brunt of English tight marking . 

England who dominated the first half,  opened the scoring in the 36th minute when Russo ran through the left field and  cut the ball back to  Toone who smacked  it into the top right corner past a diving Arnold.

Australia started the second half much brighter with multiple forays into the England half . Finally they got success in the 63rd minute when Sam Kerr received the ball in her own half, ran towards goal and unleashed a scorcher  into the top left corner from 25 yards out beyond the diving Mary Earps as the packed 75000 plus thousand capacity   stadium erupted into a huge noise  on seeing the ball crash into the English net .

However , the delight of the home fans was shortlived as  the hosts found themselves behind again less than 10 minutes later.

A long ball over the top from Millie Bright was not handled well by Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter, allowing Hemp an easy finish to restore England’s lead.

A while later Australia had a golden chance to equalise off a corner but Sam Kerr shot over from close and the hosts big chance to level the score had gone .

With minutes ticking away another lethal England counterattack saw Hemp  releasing a smart pass to  Russo, who fired a low shot into the far corner to seal England’s place in the final.

Thus Australia's hopes of playing the world cup final has ended.  They were doubtless gutted but it must be said that they should be very proud of their achievements in this world cup as they were the underdogs but still managed to reach the semifinal stage for the first ever time  . Now they should focus on the 3rd place game on Saturday vs Sweden and try to win that one to finish 3rd which itself will be an awesome achievement for the Matildas who made their fans believe till the business end and kept their nation rooting for them  .

As for the Lionnesses , this was a job very well done in front of a huge partisan crowd rooting for the hosts  and now they should be pumped for the final .  It will not get any easier as Spain has showed great skill and quality in this world cup and a cracker of a final is in store .