UEFA Wonen’s Euro 2022, Quarter-Final
Brighton Community Stadium, Falmer
Admission: £10.00
Programme: £8.00 (covering whole tournament)
Attendance: 28,994
When I booked my tickets for five games at the Euro 2022 last year, it was more with hope than expectation that England would be taking part, as they would have to win their group. As it turned out, they would win their group in some style, and their opponents would be the team I watched at Brentford on Saturday, Spain.
England won their group by narrowly beating Austria in their opening game at Old Trafford 1-0, before turning on the style with an 8-0 thumping of Norway at Brighton ,and then a 5-0 win against Northern Ireland at Southampton. Spain, who are ranked one place higher than England at seventh place in the FIFA world rankings. To qualify for the quarter-finals Spain beat Finland 4-1 at Milton Keynes, lost 0-2 to Germany, before narrowly getting the better of Denmark in a winner takes all clash at Brentford on Saturday.
On an evening that was not quite as balmy as recent days, this was an intriguing encounter which saw England's energy up against the technically excellent Spain. England had the ball in the back of the net on 37 minutes, when Lauren Hemp's free kick from the left wing was delivered into the area and bundled forward into the path of Ellen White to tap the ball home from close range, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Spain gradually exerted some dominance in the second half with their passing, possession football, and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring on 54 minutes when the ball was played out to Athenea del Castillo, who threaded the ball past Rachel Daly, ran towards the byline before passing the ball back to Esther Gonzalez, who took a touch before firing the ball low across goal and inside the far post. And England almost conceded what probably would have been a fatal second on 66 minutes when a looping cross from the right almost sailed over the England keeper Mary Earp's head, but she just managed to get enough of a finger tip on the ball over her head to take the pace off the ball, but was still thankful that Millie Bright was there to hack the ball away just before a Spain striker could pounce. Although England did threaten on occasions, roared on by a vociferous crowd, it was looking like Spain would weather the storm and eventually see the game out, and it became clear that there was their game plan, as they increasingly deployed game delaying tactics. But on 84 minutes, England did get back on level terms to send the crowd into wild celebrations when Hemp dinked the ball into the danger area, sub Alessia Russo headed the ball goalwards, and fellow sub and Manchester United team mate Ella Toone stabbed the ball home from close range.
It felt like that could turn the tide in favour of England, with a roaring crowd driving them on, and although the game finished level after 90 minutes. And 6 minutes into extra time, England took the lead with a goal that would be worth winning any match when Georgia Stanway strode through the midfield and as she approached the edge of the penalty area, she drove in a powerful shot which flew past the keeper and into the net. That was the fatal blow for the Spaniards, as they did not really threaten to force penalties throughout the remainder of extra time, and so it was England who progressed to the semi-final, where they will face either Sweden or Belgium at Bramall Lane next Tuesday.
Video hightlights can be viewed by clicking here
No comments:
Post a Comment