Hannah Wilkinson goal was enough as New Zealand stunned Norway 1-0 in the opening game of the FIFA Women World Cup, MySportDab reports.
The game was one which saw the host Nation making sure they got off to a winning start against Ada Hegerberg side who couldn’t make anything happen.
It was a wonderful match despite Ria Percival missing a late penalty which could have doubled the result for the home side.
Full Match Report
Both Women National teams came into the match with a lot of hunger in them as they looked sharp and well organized.
New Zealand were the host and they did not fail to show their dominance moving forward in search for the lead which failed to come for them.
Meanwhile, Norway who had in form Guro Reiten and Caroline Hansen on the pitch were unable to make anything much happen in the match.
Ada Hegerberg was also struggling to find herself in the match which saw her being swallowed by the host who pushed they back.
New Zealand held on firm ending the first half with a 0-0 scoreline against Norway who also gave a good account of themselves but no one was able to score a goal.
The second half was a lot more entertaining from both teams who did a lot going forward as they were able to find a breakthrough.
New Zealand broke the deadlock in the 48th minutes of the game after a lovely foot work saw Hannah Wilkinson getting to the end of the ball and made it 1-0.
The goal brought some urgency into the match as Norway started applying more pressure to try and get a comeback which wasn’t happening anytime soon.
The game entered the 80th minutes mark and still nothing coming for the Norwegians who were always pegged back from pushing for a leveler in the match.
Ria Percival missed a late penalty which could have increased the scoreline, but it did not matter as New Zealand ended the match with a 1-0 victory against Norway.
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