England successfully advanced to the final of Euro 2024 after defeating the Netherlands with a score of 2-1 in the semifinal match which was held at Signal Iduna Park, Wednesday (10/7/2024).
England actually fell behind after Xavi Simons scored a goal at the start of the first half. England were able to recover and equalize the score through Harry Kane’s penalty.
Ollie Watkins, who came on as a substitute, emerged as the hero of England’s victory through the goal he scored in injury time in the second half.
Thanks to this result, England has the right to appear in the final against Spain. This top party is planned to be held at the Olympiastadion, Berlin on Sunday (14/7/2024).
The match had only been going on for seven minutes, the Dutch had managed to open up the lead through Xavi Simons’ hard shot which Jordan Pickford failed to block. A spectacular goal.
In the 14th minute, Denzel Dumfries violated Kane in the forbidden box. After reviewing VAR, referee Felix Zwayer awarded England a penalty which Kane converted into a goal himself.
After that, England dominated the game and got two golden opportunities through Phil Foden’s actions. Unfortunately, Dumfries was able to block the first chance right on the goal line, while the second chance was thwarted by the goalpost.
The Netherlands had to lose Memphis Depay in the 34th minute due to injury. Interestingly, Ronald Koeman actually included central midfielder Joey Veerman. The 1-1 score lasted until halftime.
Returning from the dressing room, the match was fairly even. The Netherlands had a golden opportunity through Virgil van Dijk’s flick using a set piece scheme. Unfortunately, the ball was still pushed over by Pickford.
In the 80th minute, England scored a goal through Bukayo Saka’s first time shot. However, this goal was immediately disallowed by the referee because the linesman had already raised the flag to signal offside.
After one minute of injury time, England succeeded in taking the lead through Watkins’ action. Receiving the ball in the opponent’s penalty box, Watkins had time to control it before firing a shot at the far post which Bert Verbruggen couldn’t reach.
The Dutch tried to find an equalizer in the remaining time, but their efforts were fruitless. A score of 2-1 for England’s victory was the final result of this match.
