- England beat Netherlands 2-1 to reach second consecutive Euro final
- The Netherlands took the lead with a stunning goal from Xavi Simons, which was measured at 116 km/h.
- Ollie Watkins was a super sub, coming on to score the winner in the 90th minute.
Xavi Simons’ rocket
One moment that cannot be ignored is the shot of Xavi Simons that gave the Netherlands an early lead in the 7th minute of the game. The moment started with a long ball from the backfield by Denzel Dumfries before Marc Guehi’s header failed to clear the dangerous area. It was Xavi Simons who beat Declan Rice to the ball and unleashed a powerful shot that swung into the net. Although it was not a shot that far from Jordan Pickford, the speed of the ball was 116 kilometers per hour, so the English goalkeeper could not block the shot. It is considered the first and only beautiful goal for Simons in Euro 2024.
Denzel Dumfries’ penalty kick
Many times, VAR makes decisions under ambiguity that fans later argue about. But this time, it is not. Because the tackle of Demsel Dumfries can be called blatant and slightly unlucky. After the Netherlands scored the first goal for only 10 minutes, England had a chance to attack in front of the penalty area of the Oranje team. Dumfries volunteered to dive with all his might to block Harry Kane’s shot that went over the bar. The
ball seemed to have nothing from that moment until the referee received a signal to check the VAR screen himself. It revealed that Dumfries’ tackle did not touch the ball at all. What hit was Harry Kane’s foot. In the end, the referee blew the whistle for a penalty and Kane converted it without a trace.
That goal was also the 18th penalty out of the last 19 times that an English player has sent into the back of the net. It shows the decisiveness of this group of players in taking penalties.
Harry Kane moves ahead of top scorer
After being torn apart throughout the tournament due to his form, which often led to him disappearing from the game, Harry Kane has now moved up to become the top scorer of Euro 2024, with Dani Olmo edging him to 3 goals each. Both have a chance to add to their tally in the final between England and Spain on Sunday night.
Not only in terms of finishing, Harry Kane has also improved his form to be reliable in the match against the Netherlands, which should make the Three Lions fans quite happy because whenever Kane explodes in form, it means that the nightmare of the opposing defender has come to visit.
Euro 2024 top scorers
1. Harry Kane (England): 3 goals
2. Dani Olmo (Spain): 3 goals
3. Cody Gakpo (Netherlands): 3 goals – Eliminated
4. George Mikautadze (Georgia): 3 goals – Eliminated
5. Jamal Musiala (Germany): 3 goals – Eliminated
6. Ivan Schranz (Slovakia): 3 goals – Eliminated
7. Jude Bellingham (England): 2 goals
8. Fabian Ruiz (Spain): 2 goals
Ollie Watkins scores the winning goal
The game between England and the Netherlands is not a boring game because both teams have very similar quality players and names, and they have taken turns to almost score more goals many times. However, a ยูฟ่าเบท https://ufabet999.app game at this level is only a matter of time.
Striker Ollie Watkins, who was sent on in the 81st minute, became the hero leading England to victory from a chance to pass the ball through the gap of Cole Palmer before Watkins used his speed to run to receive the ball and shoot sharply past Bart Verbrucken into the goal in the last minute, which was Watkins’ first and only chance in this game. To be
honest, all three strikers that Gareth Southgate chose to play in the national team were able to repay the trust, whether it was Harry Kane who is currently the top scorer, Ivan Toney who headed Kane to score the winning goal in the game against Slovakia, and Ollie Watkins who came on to score the goal leading the team to the final. Perhaps, a 100% replacement force could be the key to England having a slight advantage over Spain in the final.