China won their group-stage game against Haiti during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on Friday despite being down a player. The referee made several controversial decisions during China’s 1-0 win.
In the 29th minute, Zhang Rui tackled Haitian player Sherly Jeudy with her studs up. The head referee, Marta Huerta de Aza, initially gave Zhang a yellow card but administered a red card after VAR stepped in.
China played with 10 players to Haiti’s 11 for the rest of the game. But they got on the board in the 74th minute after Zhang Linyan was taken down in the box. The referee did not give a penalty at first, believing Linyan was offside. After a video review, she changed her decision and awarded China a penalty.
Midfielder Wang Shuang slotted the penalty home to give China the 1-0 lead. It was Wang’s first World Cup goal.
The final minutes of the game ended in heartbreak for Haiti who felt that they should have been awarded a penalty multiple times. In the third minute of stoppage time, a penalty decision was overturned robbing Haiti of their chance to equalize. There were two more subsequent tackles in the box that Haitian fans and pundits felt may have been worthy of penalties.
The victory puts China third in their group, with a second-place finish needed to advance to the knockout rounds. China are currently tied with second-place Denmark on points and goal differential but are behind on head-to-head.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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