England’s penalty hero Chloe Kelly appeared to roar ‘f****** get in’ after scoring the winning goal during England’s nail-biting Women’s World Cup victory over Nigeria.
The 25-year-old Manchester City star once again stepped up to net a crucial match-winning penalty, following her spot-kick belter that bagged England the Euros title over the summer.
A sub-par England had to claw their way to victory, after being outplayed by the Africans during the match, which saw the Lionesses going down to 10 women when Lauren James was sent off for stamping on an opponent’s back in the 87th minute.
And after a goalless extra time, it fell to substitute Kelly to step up and blast the last penalty past keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie, giving Sarina Wiegman’s side a remarkable 4-2 victory.
As jubilant England fans celebrated the win in Brisbane, Kelly rushed over to a devastated Nnadozie and pushed a camera out of the way as it tried to film the agony on the keeper’s face – in a move England fans say showed Kelly’s ‘class’.
Kelly then joined her team as wild celebrations erupted across the Australian stadium, with a camera appearing to catch the moment the young sports hero swore as she excitedly leapt into the air.
England’s penalty hero Chloe Kelly (left) appeared to roar ‘f****** get in’ after scoring the winning goal during England’s nail-biting Women’s World Cup victory over Nigeria
The 25-year-old Manchester City star once again stepped up to net a crucial match-winning penalty, following her spot-kick belter that bagged England the Euros title over the summer
Substitute Kelly then rushed over to console defeated Nigerian keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie (pictured in yellow)
Fans then hailed Kelly as ‘class’ after she told a cameraman trying to film the heartbroken Nigerian keeper to move back
But her sportsmanship left its mark, as fans praised her compassionate gesture towards the Nigerian keep, with one even declaring it made them ‘proud to be English’.
‘Chloe Kelly telling the cameraman off to protect #NGA’s keeper Nnadozie was such a class act,’ read one tweet.
Another said: ‘Credit to Chloe Kelly for telling the cameraman to do one as she and another Lioness went to console the distraught Nigeria keeper.’
While another person said: ‘Chloe Kelly, not only a class player but a class person. Very grateful she’s English.’
Another tweet read: ‘Chloe Kelly asking the cameraman to back away there from the Nigerian goalkeeper, that’s class from her.’
While one person said ‘she told the cameraman to f*** off’ while another tweet said: ‘Thank you #ChloeKelly for reminding me why I am proud of English players. Class there telling the cameraman to get lost.’
It’s not the first time Kelly has scored a critical match-winner; she netted the extra-time goal that clinched England’s Euros final last summer and she took the decisive spot-kick in a shoot-out win over Brazil in the Finalissima in April.
When asked again about scoring yet another match-winner, Chloe insisted it was not about her as she championed the squad.
‘This team is special, we did it in the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima, we are here again tonight and doing it; we keep pushing forward and there is more to come form this special team,’ she told BBC Sport.
Kelly (left) then joined her team as wild celebrations erupted across the Australian stadium following England’s victory
Nigerian keeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was inconsolable after letting four of England’s penalty kicks into the net
And while the rest of her team went of to celebrate, substitute Kelly (pictured in the white) walked towards the defeated Nigerian keeper to comfort her
Fans on social media were quick to praise Kelly for comforting the heartbroken Nigerian keeper
‘It is amazing, anything that is thrown at us, we show what we are capable of.
‘We dig deep, we dig deep as a group, we believe in our ability; first and foremost we believe in what we are being told to do.’
Asked about what was going through her head as she walked up to take her penalty, the Manchester City forward replied: ‘For me, it is ‘I’m going to score’ – that is how I look at it, once I win that mental battle we are good.
‘We have been practising (penalties) a lot actually and it has been working.’
England will now face either Columbia or Jamaica in the final eight on Saturday.
The match is set to kick-off at 11.30am.