Amalie Vangsgaard grabbed a late winner as Denmark beat China 1-0 in their opening Group D fixture at the Women’s World Cup.
Denmark finally forced the breakthrough in the 89th minute when Pernille Harder’s cross was met by the Paris St-Germain forward, who converted the chance past China goalkeeper Xu Huan.
After seeing Saturday’s other Group D fixture result in a narrow England win against Haiti, there was a hint of anxiety between the two sides early on as the contest became scrappy in the middle of the park.
China’s plan was well-executed and they began to reap the rewards of their work rate through a series of dangerous counter-attacks, one of which resulted in Zhang Linyan’s long-range effort being saved by Lene Christensen in the eighth minute.
Bayern Munich’s Harder spent the first half on the shoulder of China’s backline but found little to no service from her team-mates, who struggled to breach China’s compact defence as the two went into the interval goalless.
Denmark started positively after the break through Nicoline Sorensen, who forged a golden chance for Josefine Hasbo in the 51st minute only for the midfielder to fail to direct a free header on target.
Wang Shanshan’s blushes were avoided in the 74th minute when her headed clearance narrowly avoided the inside of her own post and moments later goalkeeper Huan did well to punch the ball away before a sea of red shirts were able to pounce on the loose ball.
However, Vangsgaard’s late intervention ensured Denmark began their campaign with three points.
