Nigeria’s
Flamingoes and England played out a goalless draw on Tuesday in Group C’s second Match Day in Al Zarqa at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in
Jordan.
In spite of goal scoring chances created by both outfits,
neither side were able to break the deadlock. Rasheedat Ajibade, who
looked lively in attack for Nigeria, enjoyed the first opportunity on 16
minutes but goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck was on hand to deny her.
England’s
Georgia Stanway then saw her chance on 24 minutes tipped away for a
corner kick. From the resulting set-piece, the ball fell to Hannah Cain
inside the area, but her effort was blocked and cleared by Abidemi Ibe.
England
came close to opening the scoring on 32 minutes at the Prince Mohammed
International Stadium, through Stanway’s powerful free-kick, but it went
nowhere near being a goal. Nigeria defender Catherine Kenneth nearly
caught Roebuck off guard with an audacious effort on 40 minutes, but the
England shot-stopper held on to the tricky bouncing ball.
After
the break, Cain capitalised on a defensive error before racing through
on goal but saw her close-range effort go wide. Also, Nigeria’s
Folashade Ijamilusi worked her way into the box before seeing her shot
deflected out for a corner kick by Hollie Olding.
Nigeria
continued to put the Young Lionesses under pressure throughout the
second half. Mercy Omokwo twice went close and Mary-Ann Ezenagu showed
great composure to work her way into the box before seeing her effort at
the near post cleared by Connie Scofield.
Ezenagu’s threatening
delivery on 85 minutes was collected by Roebuck, while England’s Stanway
had the chance to snatch a late winner, but saw her powerful
90th-minute effort sail over.
