Lionesses endure chaotic start to World Cup following VAR drama as Georgia Stanway maintains penalty streak

England’s Women’s World Cup campaign had a dramatic start, with VAR used three times in the first half an hour of their opening game.

The Lionesses took on Haiti in their first game Down Under, with the tournament debutantes keeping the European Champions on their toes throughout the game.

It was England who drew first blood in the opening 45 minutes, though, with Georgia Stanway converting a penalty after a handball in the box by Haiti’s Batcheba Louis.

But the Lionesses’ path to their opener wasn’t an easy one, with VAR having to be called into action three times in just 30 minutes of play.

Sarina Wiegman’s side thought they’d been given a spot kick when Chloe Kelly was brought down in the box by a nasty-looking studs-up challenge from Dayana Pierre-Louis.

But, instead, a VAR review saw the referee rule that no penalty should be awarded, with England’s Alessia Russo being penalised for a foul in the build-up instead.

Still, despite denying England a spot kick, the referee dealt Pierre-Louis a yellow card for her challenge, with Russo booked as well.

Shortly after, England were given a penalty when Lucy Bronze was denied the ball in the box due to a handball from Louis – her fingers touching the ball with her arms stretched out above her head.

Stanway stepped up looking to make it eight penalties from eight in her international career, only for Kerly Theus to save her attempt and push the ball behind for a corner.

However, Stanway was then given a second chance, as a review spotted Haiti’s goalkeeper had come off her line too early for the first spot kick.

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The Bayern Munich star smashed her second penalty into the back of the net to kick the Lionesses’ campaign into gear, going the same way to fool Theus and maintaining her record from the spot.

Mary Earps pulled off some fine saves in the dying moments of the game to seal her side’s 1-0 win, with England going top of Group D with China and Denmark set to play at 1pm UK time.

Women’s World Cup on talkSPORT

Listen to live commentary of the 2023 Women’s World Cup on the talkSPORT network, with our coverage kicking off on Saturday with England vs Haiti on talkSPORT at 10.30am.

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