England fans react as Lauren James is sent off in nervy shoot-out win over Nigeria

Football fans have been reacting in their droves after England’s Lauren James was sent off in the Women’s World Cup game against Nigeria.

The midfielder has been one of the standout players for the Lionesses so far, but she received a red card for cynically lashing out in their Round of 16 game before England won in a nervy penalty shoot out.

James was sent off after intentionally stepping on Michelle Alozie late on during the game with the score at 0-0.

While she was initially given a yellow card, it was upgraded to a red after a VAR review.

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It meant that England went into extra time a player down, with Nigeria looking to make inroads playing against 10. England managed to scrape through on penalties and eventually knocked Nigeria out, but their task was made more difficult following the red card.

Some criticised the “poor spirit” of the incident on social media.

“Lauren James has let her country big time, deserves a red card, a big learning curve for her but that was disgraceful!” one wrote.

Others compared it to David Beckham’s red card against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup

Another said: “The frustration of Lauren James and the red card she got as a result is a testament to how good Nigeria has been tonight. Superb performance.”

Meanwhile, Alozie's reaction has already become one of the biggest memes of the tournament so far.

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