Women's World Cup 2019: Miedema breaks record as European champion progresses
Netherlands beat Cameroon 3-1 in Valenciennes to book a place in the last 16 of the Women's World Cup, courtesy of a Vivianne Miedema brace.
Published : Jun 15, 2019 21:17 IST
Vivianne Miedema became Netherlands' record scorer as her brace inspired a 3-1 win over Cameroon that booked a place in the Women's World Cup last 16.
A last-gasp goal from Jill Roord gave the European champions a narrow 1-0 win over New Zealand in its opening Group E match and it also had to dig deep against a determined Cameroon.
Alain Djeumfa's side, heading for an early exit after losing its second game in a row, was level at half-time as Gabrielle Onguene struck a little over two minutes after Miedema opened the scoring.
Netherlands 3 - 1 Cameroon: as it happened
But Dominique Bloodworth's first international goal early in the second period was added to by Miedema's 60th late on, taking Netherlands to six points ahead of its final group outing against Canada, who plays New Zealand in Grenoble later on Saturday.
Miedema's first goal arrived four minutes before the interval in a first half that improved as it went on.
Shanice van de Sanden exchanged passes with Jackie Groenen down the right and picked out the run of the Arsenal forward, who sent her diving header away from Annette Ngo Ndom from the edge of the six-yard box.
READ | Women's World Cup 2019 - Results and standings
Netherlands' lead lasted just 154 seconds, though, as Onguene made the most of some slack defending by heading Raissa Feudjio's long ball past stranded keeper Sari van Veenendaal and slotting into the empty net.
That was the first goal Netherlands had conceded in 443 minutes of play, but it took less than three minutes of the second half for them to restore their advantage through Bloodworth's close-range finish at the second attempt.
And Miedema overtook Manon Melis as her country's leading scorer five minutes from time with a powerful finish past Ngo Ndom after cutting inside from the left.
Key Opta Facts Netherlands scored more than once in a Women's World Cup match for the first time, while it also registered consecutive wins in the competition for the first time. Cameroon has lost four of its last five matches at the Women's World Cup (W1), losing three in a row. It is the fifth African nation to lose three consecutive games in the competition after Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Netherlands has won 13 and lost none of its 16 previous matches against teams from Africa. |