England stun Sweden in a 7-penalty sudden-death' fixture

The game started off to it's expectations with high press from Sweden from the word go, making the England defence worry. Within the 1st minute, Carter had a risky pass across the goal, with it almost being intercepted. Early warning signs, but they went on to be ignored. The next minute (2nd) Sweden scored after pouncing on sloppy play from England.

📸via @swewnt [IG]

A lazy pass from Carter to Walsh started off the Sweden attack, with Walsh then giving the ball away to Asllani under pressure. Asllani took this in her stride and nestled it in the bottom right corner. Another wake up call for England, but Sweden came again, pouncing on another error in defence. After a rare poor touch from Hannah Hampton, Blackstenius gained possession and had her eye on goal, however a crucial slide tackle from Captain Leah Williamson put the ball out of play. An instant response from Hemp in the 6th minute saw a shot tipped onto the crossbar following a cross from Stanway, but still no equaliser from the lionesses. Within the first 10 minutes, Lauren James had had no touches on the ball, a worrying stat for England.

The 17th minute was full of waves of attack from Sweden, including a skillful bit of play from Rytting Kaneryd. Play then switched to the opposite side of the pitch with a dink cross from Hemp to the far post in the 21st minute, however no one was there to meet it. Sweden instantly responded in the 25th minute as Blackstenius stripped Carter for pace once again leaving her in a 1 v 1 situation with goalkeeper Hampton. A bottom right strike from her saw Sweden 2-0 up in 27 minutes.

📸via @swewnt [IG]

At this point, England had had so many warning signs and dangers, but nothing changed, as Sweden kept attacking. The 30th minute saw another heavy touch from Walsh which let Asllani in, but a poor pass from her let England off. 

After getting the ball up the pitch, Hemp was met with an elbow to the face from Lundkvist, giving England a free kick. This was the first of many controversial moments, as no card was given out, with Fara Williams and Ellen White discussing a potential red card for it at half time. 

The first half ended with a shot on goal from Rolfo, but it was met by the hands of Hannah Hampton.

The lionesses came out at the start of the second half with urgency. In the 49th minute was incredible play by England, started by a tackle from Bronze which led to a beautiful bit of skill from James. The ball found its way to Hemp’s head, however it was headed wide of the goal. Again, Sweden instantly responded with a shot in the 55th minute by Blackstenius, but Hampton kept it out.

From the 65th minute onwards, it was as if a switch had been turned on this England team - there was such intense and skillful play from them, but still no goals.  With 20 minutes to go, Sarina turned to the bench and used her wild card, 19 year old Michelle Agyemang (along with bringing on Kelly and Mead). It was a risk that needed to be taken and it paid off. 

📸via @lionesses [IG]

The 80th minute was when the comeback started after a cross from Chloe Kelly met Bronze’s head perfectly as it was fired into the net. With passion running through the full-back’s veins, Bronze had just reignited England’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals. A minute later another cross from Kelly comes in, and Mead heads it down to Agyemang who kicks home her first goal for England in a tournament - and what a time to do it. With 9 minutes left of normal time, England had just equalised and kept themselves into the game. Lots of momentum followed from this, but as the clock ticked down, extra time edged near. 

Full time of normal time and we headed to extra time - the thing that every fan hates.

Extra time: 

There were no clear cut chances in extra time, with Sweden having most chances in the first half and England having the most in the second half. The 100th minute was marked with an ankle injury to Williamson after a collision in the box following a Sweden corner. The Captain had to be substituted off at half time of extra time, making room for Niamh Charles to come in. Before England could regain momentum in the second half, Sweden had a very strong attack, with Charles being crucial in the defence. As full time grew closer, a bundle in the box following a Sweden corner meant that Hampton was left with a nosebleed and Greenwood with a jarred shoulder. Both players shrugged it off and carried on - proper England as the players would say.

After 30 minutes, the whistle blew for full time. The teams could only be separated by spot kicks.

Penalties:

After winning the coin toss, new captain Bronze chose to shoot towards the English end and kick first, giving them a heavy advantage. 

Russo stepped up first and buried it in the side netting, 1-0 to England. Angeldahl stepped up for Sweden, but her shot was met by the heroics of Hampton’s gloves. 

England had the advantage at this point, but that was quickly taken away from them when James’ penalty was saved by Falk, which gave Sweden some breathing room. The Swedish took this opportunity to go level as Olme scored her penalty. 

Following the previous miss for England, Mead walked to the spot and took her strike. That again was saved by Falk. Sweden had the opportunity to take the lead, however captain Erikkson hit the post with her shot, which kept the scoreline level.

Centre back Greenwood took her place to take England’s 4th penalty, but her left footed shot was also saved! This left England with only 1 converted penalty from 4, and left them very vulnerable. Chelsea centre back Björn took the opportunity and nestled her shot in the bottom right corner, which gave Sweden the lead and intensified the pressure on England.

It came down to the 5th penalty, and Kelly had to convert it for England to stay in the game. Known for her powerful penalties, she powered it into the net to keep England in the game. However, England’s fate came down to Sweden’s last penalty. Goalkeeper Falk stepped up for the critical moment, but skied it! England were back in it as it went to sudden death.

Clinton kicked off sudden death with her penalty being saved, which again put England on the back foot and in a very vulnerable position. Luckily, Jakobsson’s penalty for Sweden was saved by Hampton. 

This left it down to Lucy Bronze for England, their most capped player on the pitch and a legend for the women’s game. The wing back stepped up and fired the ball into the high centre of the net. A penalty full of passion and power finally gave England the advantage again. The teenager, Holmberg, stepped up for Sweden and with an immense amount of pressure on her shoulders took the deciding kick. Unfortunately for Sweden, she skied it. 

After 120 minutes of football and one long penalty shoot out, England completed the impossible and booked their spots in the semi finals. After being 2-0 down with ten minutes left to missing three penalties in a row, the Lionesses dug deep and delivered a result. 

📸via Eurasia Sports Images [GettyImages]

Heartbreak for Sweden, who played incredibly well throughout the game, with close chances and 2 quick goals. 

Key players:

For me, my top players for England were Hannah Hampton, Alessia Russo and Lucy Bronze. Hampton kept the Lionesses in the game by limiting the goal deficit to two goals in normal time with some excellent saves as well as pulling out multiple impressive saves in the penalty shoot out - a time when the striker is always favoured to score. Alessia Russo put in so much effort for the whole game and did not stop running, and although she didn’t get on the scoresheet, she created so many chances. Lucy Bronze was rock solid in defence, and crucial in attack. With her providing the first goal of the comeback and the winning penalty, it’s safe to say that she was one of England’s key players today.

For Sweden my top players were Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Asllani and Blackstenius. Kaneryd was making dangerous runs up the wing all game long and kept suffocating England whenever they were on the ball. Asllani provided a goal but also kept the pressure on the English backline, which helped Blackstenius get the second goal. Leading on from this, Blackstenius provided an assist as well as a goal, and kept having shots on goal, making her a key part in Sweden’s early dominance in the game. 

This game was a true show of the “proper England” term and proved that the English are never done. It’s safe to say that the Lionesses used all of their 9 lives.