Jodie Taylor jogged a few memories with a criticism deflecting counter-attacking goal as England guaranteed themselves a place in the knockout stages of the World Cup on a clear Normandy night when Argentina again confounded the supposed experts.

Carlos Borrello’s side had been depicted as utterly hopeless and potentially the tournament’s weakest nation but, admittedly thanks partly to some atrocious time wasting and cynical fouling, they were well on course to embarrass Phil Neville’s Lionesses before Taylor’s first international goal for 14 months changed the narrative.

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“Jodie’s a massive player, a big a game player and I told her before the game she’d score,” said Neville. “She thrives off through-balls and, during my time as manager, we probably haven’t given her the service she had before with England. It’s something we’re working hard on.”

Argentina have traditionally conceded hatfuls of goals whenever they have met European opposition but their opening game of France 2019 saw Borrello’s players hold the 2011 winners and 2015 runners-up, Japan, to a shock draw. In securing their first ever World Cup point it made plenty of people, Neville included, sit up and take notice.

Not that, initially, it did his side much good on an evening when Vanina Correa served as a human magnetic force field in the course of a brilliant goalkeeping performance and Lorena Benítez provided a masterclass in midfield enforcement.

“It’s a South American trait to win at all costs and it’s something I admire. I didn’t mind their tactics too much,” said Neville. “And their goalkeeper was sensational. Women keepers get a lot of criticism but she’s world-class.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jodie Taylor steers in the only goal of the game. Photograph: Lynne Cameron for The FA/REX/Shutterstock

Estefania Banini is Argentina’s star but the No 10 dubbed “La Messi” was deployed in more of a spoiling role wide on the left of a midfield five here with several of Borrello’s players assigned specialist minding jobs.

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Lucy Bronze, such a dynamic influence when overlapping from right-back, was singled out for particularly abrasive treatment. Bronze is tough but even she was reduced to tears after being sent crashing on to her back following a wince inducing challenge from Ruth Bravo.

Jill Scott, meanwhile, repeatedly had her toes stamped on as her marker backed into her and barely 10 minutes had elapsed before Argentina had resorted to extreme time-wasting tactics. Scott reacted to her aggressor with a shove unseen by the referee and the worry for Neville was that Borrello’s players would provoke a retaliatory red card inside a bright blue stadium which, from the outside, resembles a giant paddling pool.

Sympathy for Argentina’s under-resourced squad and their struggles to command attention amid a still machismo national culture was running high at kick-off but now seemed to be diminishing by the minute, particularly when Aldana Cometti was booked for a startling rugby style tackle on Bronze.

In between all the snide fouls and inordinate stoppages there were some decent England cameos - the odd Jade Moore pass here, a few sharp Fran Kirby swivels there - but in a city built by that poet of reinforced concrete, Auguste Perret, Borrello’s backline repeatedly resisted virtually all attempted attacking manoeuvres. The term ‘packed defence’ does not really do it justice on a night when Borrello redefined the concept of the low block.

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England needed to start moving the ball much faster but they eventually won a penalty after Bravo felled Alex Greenwood in the area. Nikita Parris stepped forward but her side-foot dispatch was delivered at a saveable height and, sure enough, Correa stopped it. That said, she still had quite a bit of work to do in order to divert the ball one-handed at full stretch. Small wonder she was mobbed by team-mates celebrating as if they had won the World Cup.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Vanina Correa dives full length to her left to save Nikita Parris’s penalty. Photograph: Bernadett Szabó/Reuters

Lorena Benítez, a positionally astute holding midfielder, was playing a hugely influential role in disrupting England’s flow and, as the second-half minutes ticked by, Neville looked increasingly tense.

It did not help that Correa and her adhesive hands seemed to be operating behind a set of geometry specialists taking a fiendish delight in narrowing their opponents’ angles of attack. Then, finally, and fatally, Argentina tired of defending and ventured upfield. Once that extremely rare attack broke down, the Lionesses pounced, seizing the moment and remembering they used to be a very good counter-attacking team.

Breaking at speed, Jill Scott and Kirby bamboozled Benítez and co and Beth Mead’s fabulous first time cross caught Correa, for once, stranded, allowing Taylor to make the most of an intelligent blindside run to turn the ball into the net. Taylor won the golden boot at Euro 2017 and celebrated like a striker vindicated.

She has left England on course to top Group D and, with only a draw against Japan in Nice on Wednesday, they could enjoy a theoretically straightforward route to the semi-finals.