Black Queens show courage in narrow defeat to Lionesses of England

An experimental Lionesses side edged past Ghana’s Black Queens with a 2-0 victory at St Mary’s Stadium thanks to Lucia Kendall’s first goal for her country and an Alessia Russo penalty late in the game on Tuesday.

The win extends England’s unbeaten run against African opposition, with their last loss being a 3-0 defeat to Nigeria in 2004.

Kendall, playing at the home stadium of her childhood team Southampton, tapped home on eight minutes after an error from Ghana’s Benedicte Simon, whose misplaced clearance teed up the 21-year-old for a simple finish in front of goal.

The Aston Villa midfielder came through the ranks at the Saints before making the move to the WSL side, and the joy on her face told the story of what was a hugely significant moment in her young career.

It was not all good news for Sarina Wiegman’s side, however, with Chloe Kelly later forced off in the first half with an injury.

Wiegman opted to hand several players an opportunity from the start against the Ghanaians, with Kendall, Taylor Hinds, Missy Bo Kearns and Aggie Beever-Jones among those included in the starting 11.

Ghana coach, Kim Lars Bjorkegren, named goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan Fiindib in post with Captain Portia Boakye and Susan Ama Duah leading a defensive setup.

Benedicte Simon made her Black Queens debut, slotting into the backline for her first appearance in Ghana’s colours alongside Comfort Yeboah, Portia Boakye and Susan Duah.

The midfield featured the industrious trio of Jennifer Cudjoe, Stella Nyamekye and Grace Asantewaa as Alice Kusi, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Doris Boaduwaa played upfront.

The England boss had predicted a more challenging game than the 8-0 thrashing of China on Saturday, and that was exactly what her team got.

While clearly lacking the technical quality of their opponents, Ghana showed plenty of fight and athleticism, and caused England problems on a few occasions with their quick counter-attacks.

It could, and really should, have been more comfortable for the Lionesses, however, with Ghana having the woodwork, goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan Findib, and some poor finishing to thank for keeping the score down.

But England did get their second in stoppage time of the second half from the penalty spot, after Comfort Yeboah was penalised for a handball which blocked Russo’s header from finding the back of the net. The Arsenal forward stepped up and made no mistake.

While this was not the free-flowing attacking masterclass that was on show against China, Wiegman will no doubt benefit from getting to see what the rest of her squad could do when given an opportunity to impress against very capable opposition.

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