England will play in the second consecutive final of the European Championship. Substitute Ollie Watkins scored a dramatic 90th minute goal, leading them to a 2:1 victory over the Netherlands in Dortmund. They will now compete against Spain for the trophy.
Gareth Southgate’s men were on their knees throughout the competition, but in this game, they showed the quality they possess, especially in the first half.
It was the 7th minute when Xavi Simmons scored a spectacular goal. He took advantage of a big mistake by Declan Rice, headed toward the opponent’s goal, fired at the ball, and beat Jordan Pickford.
The English did not back down after conceding a goal, but charged towards the rival’s goal and equalized the score in the 18th minute. Harry Kane converted from a good position, but referee Felix Zwaye was called on by colleagues in the VAR room to see if Denzel Dumfries had fouled the Bayern striker. In the end, the German referee pointed to the penalty spot, and the successful footballer was accurate, which was his 65th goal for the national team.
“England’s national team continued to attack and had a few more good attempts through Phil Foden. During one of his shots, Dumfries cleared the ball off the line. Then the Manchester City player’s long-range shot hit the post.
Ronald Koeman’s side could have taken another lead in the first half, but the Dumfries standout headed over the crossbar.
The big problem for the Netherlands was that forward Memphis Depay had to go off the game in the 35th minute with an injury. He was replaced by Joy Verman.
The second half was of low intensity as if both were afraid to attack. However, in the 79th minute, England scored a goal through Bukayo Saka, but it was justifiably disallowed because of the offside in which the assistant Kyle Walker was located.
When it was expected that the game would go to overtime, the reserves Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins entered the scene. The former sent a great ball for the latter, who shot from a turn and beat Bart Verbruggen. Until the end of the game, the Netherlands failed to threaten Pickford.
England will play Spain in the final of the European Championship on Sunday. Let’s remind, at the last continental competition, Gareth Southgate’s team lost to Italy in the final.
Ollie Watkins
“Unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks. It took a lot of hard work to get here. I swear to my life I said to Cole: ‘We’re going to come today, you’re going to set me up’. We’re in the final and that’s all that matters. We are ready for Spain”
Harry Kane
“We made history. Amazing achievement, I’m so proud, it was a tough tournament. One more match left on Sunday. Ollie waited and was patient. What a finish. I think we were the better team, especially in the first half. We deserved it to win. I was happy to go out and then we scored. We have one more game to make history, 90 minutes, penalties, whatever it takes.”
Southgate’s new big score
England under Gareth Southgate: World Cup 2018 semi-final, EURO 2020 final, World Cup 2022 quarter-final, EURO 2024 final.
Jude Bellingham
“We were criticized whenever we played badly, but what is important is that we were resistant to such stories, that we stuck together and won. These are significant moments. They unite us even more than as a team and as a family. Moments like this make us we’re going to the finals now. I knew how much he could do because he didn’t start the matches in the club. They look successful, they really see them play”
