England Edge Past Sweden in Sudden Death in Euro Cup Semi
England women have walked one step closer to their title defence. The Lionesses defeated Sweden on penalties to advance to the last four of the competition. This was a thrilling contest that went down to the wire and was decided in a sudden death. England will face Italy in the semi-final of this competition.
Sweden takes the early momentum
Sweden and England have been the powerhouses of European football in the women’s division. The Swedish side has a lot of qualities, and they took the early advantage. England’s defence was put under pressure. Jessica Carter gave the ball away. Stina Blackstenius received the pass and she assisted Kosovare Asllani for the first goal. She became the eldest goal scorer in the knockout stages of the women’s Euro.
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Stina Blackstenius was having a good day on the field. She made a solo run past English defenders in the 25th minute. The Arsenal striker doubled the lead and gave a big blow to the defending champions. No team had ever managed to turn down a two-goal deficit in the knockout stage of the Euros. Sweden held on to their lead in the first half.
Chloe Kelly to the rescue
England women struggled to break down the Swedish defence. Sarina Wiegman made some changes and introduced Chloe Kelly in the 78th minute. Kelly contributed with an assist in the 79th minute. Her cross found Lucy Bronze on the back post, and she headed the ball in the back of the net. Two minutes later, Kelly delivered another cross. Beth Mead headed the ball in Michelle Agyemang’s path and the substitute levelled the score. The match went down to the wire and was decided on the penalty shootout.
England advance after a poor penalty shootout display
The penalty shootout saw some poor displays by the takers and good keeping at the other end. England won the shootout after both sides took their seventh penalty. The score was 3-2 at the end of the shootout. Sweden was shooting second and wasted a couple of opportunities to seal the match.
Cristiana Girelli takes Italy to the last four
The Italian women became the first team to advance to the semifinals. Cristiana Girelli guided her side to a 2-1 win against Norway. This was another thriller contest in which all three goals were scored in the second half.
Norway were the favourites ahead of this match, but Italy were the better team on the night. They kept the ball and created more chances than the opposition. Girelli sent her team in front in the 50th minute. Norway had a chance to make a comeback in the 60th minute. After a long wait, they were awarded a penalty. Ada Hegeberg stepped up and missed her second penalty of the tournament.
Hegerberg and Norway levelled the score in the 66th minute through open play. The match was heading to extra time, but the Italians had other plans. Just before the injury time, Sofia Cantore played the ball into the box. Girelli got to the end of the cross and headed Italy into the semifinals.
