Women’s Euro 2022: England reaches final with stunning win over Sweden
It didn’t all go host England’s way, however, as Sarina Wiegman’s side had to weather some serious first-half pressure from a world class Sweden side.
But Beth Mead’s smart turn and finish after the half-hour mark settled England’s obvious nerves and from then on there only looked like being one winner.
Lucy Bronze’s header from a corner early in the second half and then a stunning back-heeled goal from substitute Alessia Russo sent the 28,624 fans inside Bramall Lane into rapture, before Fran Kirby’s lob added gloss to an already remarkable scoreline.
Sweden, after all, is currently ranked second in the world, with England only previously recording three wins over Sweden in its entire history.
In what has already been a record-breaking tournament for attendances and viewing figures, Tuesday’s game set a new record attendance for a Euros semifinal.
After defeats in the semifinals at the 2019 World Cup, Euro 2017, England will now play in the final against either Germany or France at Wembley Stadium on July 31.
“We found a way. The players in the game found a way to get out of their pressure. I’m so incredibly proud of them.”
Slow starters
The nerves that were evident for much of the quarterfinal against Spain were again on display in the early stages against Sweden.
England goalkeeper Mary Earps was called into action inside the opening minute, blocking Sofia Jakobsson’s effort after Georgia Stanway had been caught in possession in midfield.
Another smart save from Earps once again kept the scores level just minutes later, this time palming Stina Blackstenius’ bobbled effort around the post. From the resulting corner, Sweden had its best chance yet as Blackstenius this time beat Earps to the ball, but her header could only find the crossbar.
With England looking to dominate possession, Sweden was posing a real threat on the counter. The attacking trio of Blackstenius, Kosovare Asllani and Fridolina Rolfo in particular were giving England’s defenders nightmares, pulling them this way and that with their interchanging runs.
By the half hour mark, England had barely registered a chance worth mentioning. In fact, the highlight of the Lionesses’ opening 30 minutes was a stunning sliding tackle from Kirby, who had tracked back the length of the pitch to deny Sweden a clear goalscoring chance.
England manager Wiegman once again named the same starting XI she had for the first four games of Euro 2022, unperturbed by the somewhat toothless display for much of the quarterfinal against Spain.
Wiegman needed all of her tactical nous to turn that game around with substitutions, but her trusty top scorer Mead made sure that wouldn’t be necessary this time.
With 10 minutes left to play in the first half, England found the breakthrough seemingly out of nowhere. After Lauren Hemp’s cross into the box missed Ellen White’s boot by an inch, Bronze did well to keep the ball in play and put it back into the penalty area.
Mead took one touch, swiveled and drilled the ball into the far corner to send Bramall Lane crowd into delirium. It was a…
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