Japan defeated Norway 3-1 to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup and will play in the quarter-finals tomorrow against the winner of the game between Sweden and the United States.
Risa Shimizu and Hinata Miyazawa both scored to help Futoshi Ikeda secure victory, in what was an enthralling game of football.
Japan took the lead after fifteen minutes, when Ingrid Engen tapped Miyazawa’s cross into the back of her net. Goalkeeper Aurora Watten Mikalsen rushed to try to save the own goal, but her efforts were successful, with the score being the first goal conceded by Hege Riise’s side in the Women’s World Cup.
Norway equalized just five minutes later, with Mikalsen sending a straight ball upfield to find Vilde Boe Risa on the right flank.
The Manchester United midfielder moved forward before playing an excellent cross into the penalty area, which was met by Guro Reiten on the edge of the box, who rose high into the air and headed the ball into the top left corner of the goal. goal.
Japan defeated Norway 3-1 to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup
Norway conceded a goal in the first half, with Ingrid Engen conceding an own goal to give Japan the advantage
Japan now goes through to play against the winner of tomorrow’s game between Sweden and the USA
Likewise, it was the first goal Japan had conceded at the tournament so far, but they continued to put pressure on the Norwegian side.
And while their attack was impressive, they lacked the clinical advantage they showed in their epic 4-0 win against Spain last week.
They moved the ball well and put pressure on their opponents, getting many numbers inside the Norwegian penalty area and dominating much of the first half.
But no matter how threatening Japan was with the ball at their feet, a shot on goal did not materialize in the first half.
Yui Hasegawa was a standout all along, making his way into the Norwegian penalty area on several occasions, while Miyazawa was equally impressive offensively.
With the score tied at 1–1, Japan continued to move towards the Norwegian goal after half-time and had their first shot on target in the 47th minute, with Hasegawa breaking through in the penalty area to clear a shot away from Mikalsen.
Guro Reiten (pictured) would score a sublime header to level the scores five minutes later
Risa Shimizu (first right) put Japan back in the lead after the break, taking advantage of a lack of concentration at the back of Norway
It was Shimizu (middle) goal at the tournament, and she drove off to celebrate with Yui Hasagawa (right) after scoring
After managing to weather Hasegawa’s advance, a lack of concentration saw Boe Risa misplaced a pass to West Ham star Shmizu, who seized the opportunity to put Japan ahead in the 50th minute.
It was a close range effort, with Egen just hitting the shot, but she couldn’t prevent the score, with the ball going into the goal.
While they failed to show the same clinical advantage as they did in their 4-0 win against Span, Japan continued to attack in the second term and Norway were forced to dig in.
Riko Ueki came on in the 71st minute and immediately made an impact, speeding down the right wing, and for a moment it looked like she could add a third, but couldn’t get enough power in her attack, which was comfortably saved by Mikalsen.
Norway came close to equalizing, with Karina Saevik lucky with a pass that ricocheted off a Japanese defender, sending her clear into the penalty area. But it was a tight angle and she couldn’t hit the target, so her right shot flew over the target.
Despite Norway’s best efforts, Miyazawa put the game out of their reach, using an excellent pass from Aoba Fujino, which sliced the opposing defense in two, to break free and slide her fifth goal of the tournament past Mikalsen .
Norway attacked the Japanese goal late, calling on Ayaka Yamashita to stop a final header from Saevik, reaching out her left arm to pull off a sensational save.
Japan were forced to work for the win despite leading by two goals, but held on to their opponents’ late advance to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.