England pulled off a shocking comeback to succeed in the semi-finals of the Ladies’s European Championship with an exhilarating penalty shootout victory in opposition to Sweden.
The Lionesses stored their title defence alive in probably the most dramatic of circumstances as they fought again from 2-0 down within the match, earlier than profitable an enthralling shootout that noticed a complete of 9 gamers miss from the spot.
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Sarina Wiegman’s facet drew 2-2 in regular time earlier than profitable 3-2 on penalties, however that hardly scratches the floor.
Lauren James, Beth Mead and Alex Greenwood all noticed their efforts saved by Jennifer Falk, who then had an opportunity to seal victory for Sweden with the shootout at 2-2.
However Sweden’s goalkeeper did not convert, as she blasted over the bar from 12 yards to maintain England’s hopes alive.
This took a loopy shootout to sudden-death, and Grace Clinton instantly gave the Swedes a second probability to win the match when she rolled her effort into Falk’s arms.
However Hannah Hampton got here to the rescue, tipping Sofia Jakkobsson’s effort onto the put up, who turned Sweden’s fifth participant to fail to transform.
Lucy Bronze then rifled her effort into the roof of the web to nudge England 3-2 forward, earlier than Smilla Holmberg fired the decisive penalty over the bar to see the Lionesses progress into the ultimate 4.
The England followers within the crowd went wild because the Lionesses flocked to rejoice with Hampton, whereas Sweden’s stars have been left distraught.
It marked an exhilarating finish to a roller-coaster experience of a match, which noticed England going through an early exit in regular time.
Sarina Wiegman’s facet fell behind after simply 2 minutes when Kosovare Asllani put Sweden forward after being performed in by Stina Blackstenius, who pounced on a sloppy go from Keira Walsh.
England have been lucky to not fall additional behind minutes later, as Leah Williamson made a vital last-ditch block to disclaim Blackstenius.
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However issues quickly received worse for the 2022 champions, as Blackstenius doubled Sweden’s lead with a sensible end on 25 minutes.
The Lionesses headed in at half-time going through their worst efficiency at a significant event in over a decade, having final failed to succeed in the semi-final stage at Euro 2013.
Within the second half it seemed like England have been set for undesirable historical past, who remained 2-0 down heading into the ultimate quarter-hour.
However Chloe Kelly’s introduction within the 78th minute proved to be the turning level, who impressed a shocking late present.
Only a minute later, the Arsenal ahead’s cross was headed in by Lucy Bronze to half the deficit.
And the comeback was then accomplished within the 81st minute, as Kelly grabbed one other help when her cross discovered its approach to fellow substitute Michelle Agyemang to show residence and drive extra-time.
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And after neither facet managed to edge forward within the subsequent half-hour, it left it a really breath-taking shootout to resolve issues.
Wiegman’s facet now stay heading in the right direction to defend their European Championship title, and can battle Italy within the final 4 on Tuesday for a spot within the ultimate.