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USWNT gets back in win column with strong win over No. 3 France

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Flying Eze
April 14, 2021

The United States women’s national team bounced back from a rare draw to dominate France in a 2-0 friendly win at the Stade Oceane in Le Havre on Tuesday.

France was weakened, with Wendie Renard, Amandine Henry, and Amel Majri among those not in the fold, but Vlatko Andonovski and Co. were dealing with Eugenie Le Sommer and a bevy of stars.

The Yanks saw their 16-match winning streak end Saturday with a controversial 1-1 draw against Sweden, though that controversy was in how the USWNT nailed down the draw with a late Megan Rapinoe penalty.

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Still, the U.S. outshot Sweden 20-9 and had 55 percent of the ball, so there wasn’t cause for major concern aside from the reminder that the best team in the world can lose any match. With the Olympics coming and Rio living front and center, the Sweden draw was a reminder of how even the world’s No. 1 team can falter.

Sweden’s the world’s No. 5 team, so even a less-than-perfect No. 3 France could’ve come hard for the U.S.

If in fact it did, the idea didn’t turn out well.

France had the same possession numbers as Sweden but only managed three shot attempts and only one was on target.

The Yanks got another Rapinoe penalty in the fifth minute when Alex Morgan was dropped in the box, and Morgan bagged a goal of her own in the 19th minute as part of the team’s 16-shot, 8-on-target performance.