England beat Sweden 4–0 in the EC semi-final.
Rachel Daly (left) Mary Earps celebrate reaching the European Championship final at Wembley. PDO
The women’s EC semifinals got off to an explosive start.
Sweden lost the ball just seconds into the game and cheated For Sofia Jakobsson excellent goal position. England goalkeeper Mary Earps however, a wonderful foot defense kept the hostesses in the fight.
Earps had to stretch for a couple more top saves, but he couldn’t stop either by Stina Blackstenius bump, which only stopped at the top log.
Blågult jacket Peter Gerhardsson had sent his team in search of an early lead, but carelessness in the final third was once again the fate of the yellow shirts.
And because Sweden didn’t use its opportunities, England inoculated it with an opening goal against the flow of the match. By Lauren Hemp the concentration sailed to the scene of the crime Ellen White’s over, but Lucy Bronze returned the pressure immediately with his concentration.
Hanna Glas collapsed to follow with just a look, how Beth Mead killed the ball with his first touch and half-volleyed it into the back corner.
The story continues after the picture.
Beth Mead scored her sixth goal of the tournament and the winning goal in the EC semifinals. PDO
The goal changed the script of the semi-final, because the hostesses were no longer afraid of Sweden’s counterattacks. England could have scored the necessary goals before the break, but now they had to wait until the beginning of the second period.
Bramall Lane’s game clock showed the 48th minute when Lucy Bronze puske to repeat the corner given by Mead Hedvig Lindahl behind the back.
At this point, the Home crowd started singing the familiar “It’s coming home” chant from last summer (as well as from the 1996 men’s EC tournament).
England got two extra days off compared to Sweden before the semi-final in Sheffield, and the difference in energy between the teams clearly made the task easier for the white shirts. Substitute player Alessia Russo humiliated Lindahl by finishing the third goal with his heel. Fran Kirby also wanted to participate in the competition for the most beautiful goal of the tournament and chipped over the goalkeeper with the final numbers 4–0.
Sweden is the second country in the Fifa ranking, but in Sheffield it collapsed to its weakest performance of the tournament.
The final of the EC tournament will be played on Sunday at Wembley. England will also have the advantage of one rest day for the match, as the second semi-final between Germany and France is scheduled for Wednesday night.