England star Lauren James sent off for stamp in moment of madness vs Nigeria

England winger Lauren James was sent off for a reckless stamp during the closing stages of normal time against Nigeria at the Women’s World Cup. The Lionesses were being held to a draw by their opponents at the time of the incident, which saw James fail to control her frustrations as she ran over the back of Michelle Alozie while the latter was on the ground.

The England ace was initially shown a yellow card by the referee before a VAR intervention saw her punishment upgraded to a sending-off, leaving her team-mates a player down for the rest of the match. It was a moment of madness from James, who had arguably been one of England’s best players at the tournament prior to her stamp on Alozie.

Alozie was laying flat on the floor after tangling with James, who was seemingly furious at having lost possession in spite of her best efforts. She briefly sat on top of her opponent as she clambered to her feet before letting herself and England down with a needless stamp on Alozie’s back.

BBC commentator Vicki Sparks compared the incident to David Beckham’s red card against Argentina at the World Cup back in 1998, saying: “Shades of David Beckham against Argentina from Lauren James. What is she doing? Why do that? Completely unnecessary from Lauren James.”

Meanwhile, former England goalkeeper Karen Carney put it down to a sheer display of anger in the heat of the moment, adding: “Frustrations are starting to emerge. You aren’t used to seeing that from Lauren James, leaving one on a player.”

James had excelled at the Women’s World Cup prior to Monday’s last-16 clash with Nigeria, with the Chelsea forward scoring three goals and contributing another three assists during the group stages. However, her inability to control her frustrations only served to put a significant dampener on proceedings by making England’s job much harder in Brisbane.

She will be banned for at least one match if England manage to make it through to the quarter-finals, although FIFA’s disciplinary committee may decide to hand down a harsher punishment upon reviewing what happened.

The incident came after Nigeria had rattled the woodwork twice in their efforts to spring a major surprise at the Lionesses’ expense. Sarina Weigman’s side were made to work hard by their unfancied opponents but managed to see it through until the full-time whistle to force an extra 30 minutes in spite of James’ sending-off.

England were somewhat fortunate to avoid conceding in normal time against Nigeria after they were denied the opportunity to break the deadlock from the penalty spot following another VAR intervention. The referee did not hesitate to award a spot-kick when Rachel Daly went down in the box, although the decision was eventually overturned after an on-field review of the incident.

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