World Cup: Georgia Stanway penalty gives England narrow 1-0 win over Haiti
England were made to work for their opening win of the 2023 World Cup, as ITV News' Amy Lewis reports
England's World Cup campaign got off to a winning start as the Lionesses beat Haiti 1-0 in Brisbane.
A retaken Georgia Stanway penalty was enough to give England all three points, leaving them top of Group D with Denmark playing China later on Saturday.
Despite being 49 places below England in FIFA's world rankings, Haiti were more than a match for the European champions, and missed a golden second half opportunity to equal the scoreline through Roseline Eloissaint.
Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman selected Alessia Russo in attack for England, while captain Millie Bright also returned to the starting line-up.
Alongside Russo, Ella Toone, Alex Greenwood, Jess Carter and Chloe Kelly were the other England starters who were not amongst Wiegman's unchanged starting XI for last year's Euro 2022 triumph.
Captain Nerilia Mondesir led out World Cup debutants Haiti, with boss Nicolas Delepine also turning to 19-year-old Lyon-bound midfielder Melchie Dumornay.
In a competitive first half, England took the lead from the penalty spot, courtesy of Bayern Munich midfielder Stanway.
The 24-year-old only managed to find the back of the net with her second attempt, after Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Théus saved her initial effort.
England fans react to the Lionesses' 1-0 group stage win over Haiti
But a VAR review for encroachment by Théus led to referee Emikar Caldera ordering a retake, which Stanway dispatched into the bottom left-hand corner.
In the second half, England created several chances to extend their lead, but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping kept the scoreline at 1-0.
Haiti can also count themselves unlucky not to come away with a point after Mary Earps saved from Eloissaint, when she was put through one-on-one against the Manchester United goalkeeper.
The Lionesses are next in action on Friday against 13th ranked Denmark.
Speaking after the game, Stanway gave credit to Haiti, telling ITV1: "They challenged us, very dangerous on the counter-attack. That's something we'll work on in training this week.
"We knew they were going to be dangerous. Mary [Earps] came up with a big save and everybody played their part. It's saves like that that keep us in this tournament. The most important thing is that we've got three points and it's the first game. Off to a good start.
"The first game is to settle the nerves, you can build momentum. It's just nice to get that World Cup feel after watching for two days."
On the retaken penalty, Stanway added: "I was just focused on the ball and the situation. You kind of block out everything that's around you. To be fair the first one was a very, very good save. Credit for the save but obviously she was off her line."
Wiegman also praised England's opponents, crediting Haiti for their unpredictability and making it a "very hard" contest for the Lionesses.
She said: "We were struggling with that. I think we had a lot of possession but they were really tough in the duels, they were very quick. We did create chances but we lost the ball at moments where we weren't expecting it and then they were gone, so that was hard for us.
"Overall what we want to do it finish our chances. And a little better in the possession game. I hope in the next game in open play we can score goals."
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