The U.S. Women’s National Team closed out group stage play at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Sweden on Thursday.
Lindsay Horan scored three minutes in for Jill Ellis’ side while an own goal from Sweden’s Jonna Andersson sealed the USWNT’s third-consecutive win of the tournament. The win sets up the USWNT with a Round of 16 date against Group B runners-up Spain on June 24th.
A corner kick fell to Horan inside of the box and the midfielder tucked it in for a 1-0 USWNT lead.
The sides traded efforts in the 15th-minute with Samantha Mewis and Stina Blackstenius both seeing their shots saved.
After halftime, the USWNT got some luck in the 50th-minute with Andersson deflecting Tobin Heath’s shot into her own goal. Heath shimmied her way for some space before hitting a shot off Andersson and into the left corner of the goal.
2-0 USA!@TobinHeath scores from a tight angle and the goal stands after a lengthy VAR review. #FIFAWWC https://t.co/DRpsL3v9wP
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 20, 2019
Hedvig Lindahl made a superb save on substitute Carli Lloyd to keep the deficit at only two, but the Swedes could not get a clear look at goal.
Alyssa Naeher made two saves to preserve the USWNT’s third clean sheet in a row to start the World Cup.
The lone negative of the match was Alex Morgan’s departure at halftime after being on the end of a rough tackle in the first-half. Morgan limped off the field but early rest should help her recover in time for the knockout stage.
The USA played a VERY controlled match, and I am sure that Jill Ellis had planned it exactly as it went down. The only thing which made me nervous was the fact there was too much passing around in the U.S. end and there were a number of giveaways which could have been converted into scores by a more sophisticated offense. Sweden is a power team and they score a lot of goals on set plays like corner kicks where their overall height gives them a BIG advantage over most teams. You may have noticed that they got their heads on just about every corner kick they sent in. However, all went outside the goal. Also, the U. S. was not striking the ball that well on their shots, as most went over the crossbar by a lot. However they capitalized on their 2 best scoring chances, and they will need to do that from here on in, if they want to be able to run the table. If everyone comes out of this match healthy, then it was just what they needed going forward.