England made history as they beat Australia to reach their first ever Women’s World Cup final.
Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp were the Lionesses’ heroes as they both struck in the second-half to secure a 3-1 win and setup a clash with Spain in Sunday’s final.
Before that, England and Australia had been locked at 1-1 as Ella Toone and Sam Kerr scored wonder goals.
Toone fired England ahead in the 36th minute when she arrowed the ball into the top corner from just inside the penalty area. The midfielder has endured a tough tournament and lost her starting place to Lauren James before her ban, but Toone silenced a packed Stadium Australia.
England had looked in control of the game at that point and they should have doubled their lead just before the hour mark when Millie Bright wasted a good chance from a corner.
The Lionesses were punished moments later. Kerr was handed her first start of the tournament after recovering from a calf injury and she announced her arrival by scoring from 30 yards out. The Chelsea striker picked the ball up just inside her half, driving forward, and eventually letting fly as no one closed her down.
That gave Australia hope that they were about to pull off a historic win for a game that was due to attract the biggest television audience since Cathy Freeman raced to gold here in the 400m at the Olympics 23 years ago.
England, however, had other ideas and they recovered well after being rocked by Kerr’s brilliant strike. Arsenal striker Russo went close with a header and then, in the 71st minute, Hemp struck.
It was a nothing long ball forward from Bright, but Hemp chased Australia right-back Ellie Carpenter down and put her under pressure. The ball broke kindly for Hemp and she made no mistake as she guided the finish past West Ham goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Australia should have levelled the game late on as they missed a series of chances, one of which saw Kerr blaze a volley wide from five yards out.
And they were brutally punished as four minutes before the end Hemp played in Russo, and the Arsenal striker lashed the ball into the bottom corner to the delight of everyone on the England bench.
