“Playing for England, you tend to know that sometimes decisions don’t go your way,” she said. “Luckily enough for us, we finished the game off ourselves.
“I do think LJ’s goal should have stood. It would have been a huge moment for her, in her first World Cup, to score a hat-trick for England.”
Bronze said of China’s penalty: “I knew it hit my hand, but it wasn’t deliberate. Unless I cut my arm off, I don’t know how I get my arm out the way.
Related: China 1-6 England: player ratings from Women’s World Cup group D game
“We sit down with referees every tournament to discuss the rules; the rules are if I’m trying to put my hand next to my body [it is not a penalty]. I knew it wasn’t deliberate, but I guess she just wanted to give me a yellow card for fun.
“As a team it’s something we’ve been through before. At the last World Cup, we went through an even more interesting game with VAR and the opposition and refereeing decisions. Tonight was a little bit easier but I had more go against me than anyone else. It wasn’t a fun game in that respect. The most important thing is we won, we’re through to the next game, no one else got injured.”
England progress as Group D winners and face Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday. “We’re looking forward to it,” Kelly said. “It’s a different test again and in world football playing against different opposition is amazing.”
