BBC under fire as England vs Nigeria viewers fume at Women’s World Cup coverage | Football | Sport

BBC viewers were riled up on Monday morning during England‘s knockout match against Nigeria. With tensions running high during the all-important Women’s World Cup clash, those tuning in were met by commentary that was marginally out of sync with the picture, causing them to hear about chances before they had appeared on screen.

The Lionesses advanced to the knockout rounds after putting together a flawless run in the group stages. Wins over Haiti, Denmark and China saw Sarina Wiegman’s side comfortably through with only one goal conceded.

Standards were always likely to increase upon meeting Nigeria, who themselves are undefeated at this year’s tournament. As expected, the two teams were closely-matched in the first half as the score remained goalless at the break.

Some BBC viewers felt that the experience was tarnished by a technical issue, however, as the commentary seemed to be slightly ahead of the on-screen visuals.

That became apparent when Ashleigh Plumptre smashed the bar for Nigeria in the first period, with commentators revealing as much before the powerful shot had even struck the woodwork on screen.

“Anyone else’s BBC commentary out of sync with the pictures?” wrote @MrGeorgeThorpe on Twitter. “Knew that shot had hit the bar and Mary Earps had made a save about a second before they happened.”

On the incident, former England international Alex Scott told the BBC: “I think Rachel Daly is being smart there.

“As the attacking player, she has actually stopped and leant back into the defender which has made it seem like she’s been pushed over. For the referee to hold up her hands and go to VAR to overturn that was huge.”

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