England go through to the Euro’s final with Saka almost bagging a goal
England go through to the Euro’s final again as Saka, Rice and Ramsdale all look to Euro’s glory as they get set to face off against Spain this weekend in the all important final! This is back-to-back finals for Gareth Southgate and a massive achievement for an England side who have struggled to be consistent in this tournament, but managed to walk away 2-1 winners against The Netherlands in what was a nail biting game until the last minutes.
The Netherlands started the game looking on the front foot and managed to score an early goal through a screamer of a goal from Xavi Simons in the 7th minute and the Netherlands well and truly in the driving seat. But luckily for England, they managed to get back on equal terms through a somewhat questionable challenge against Harry Kane in the box and after a quick VAR replay they were awarded the penalty. Kane stepped up and smashed it into the bottom corner of the net to put England back in the game.
The first half was dominated by England and Saka and Rice had a great first half of football, looking the more solid team. In the second half The Netherlands came out looking a lot more organised and the game started to look like it could go either way. Our own Starboy Bukayo Saka managed to get the ball in the back of the net in the 79th minute and looked to have sealed the game, but Manchester City’s Kyle Walker had strayed offside and the goal was disallowed.
Southgate made some late changes and they managed to pay off when Cole Plamer slipped a perfect ball into Ollie Watkins and Watkins took a touch then fired the ball along the ground into the back of the net in the 90th minute to win the game for England.
Saka was again one of the best of the pitch and looked dangerous going forward, The Netherlands were man marking him and he didn’t have as much of the ball as usual but when he did, he always look electric. Playing almost a full 90 minutes but was taken off in the 89th minute to try slow the game down after the winning goal.
Declan Rice again played the entire 90+ minutes and was a force in the midfield alongside Kobbie Mainoo, both working in tandem and both didn’t put a foot wrong. Having a huge 106 touches throughout the game and walking away with 88/94 (94%) accurate passes and always looked calm and collected on the ball. Again being a vital part of England’s midfield and a huge reason they stayed solid enough to advance to the final. Again Ramsdale was on the bench, but it was great to see him celebrating at the end with the squad.
England now face Spain on the weekend in what will be a huge game for our Arsenal lads, a chance to make history and bring some silverware home to England. With a short turn around, we hope they get enough rest and can make their countries proud with a win.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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I don’t entirely agree with the comments in the article about Rice and Saka.
Overall, Rice played well (95% pass rate etc.) but he was dispossessed by Simons near the England box in a crucial moment, and the Dutchman proceeded to open the scoring. I’m not sure that he “didn’t put a foot wrong” is quite accurate. Only one error, of course, but a pretty big one surely.
Saka started well but I thought he faded as the game went on (in comparison to his previous outing) and received a pretty obvious yellow card late in normal time while “halting” a Dutch counterattack.
Southgate is faced with the dilemma of whether or not to leave out Kane and Bellingham who appear to have run out of petrol after a long grueling season , and persevering with Trippier who is clearly very limited at LB.I suspect he will go with Shaw in the Final despite the fact that he is not fully match fit but will be have the “bottle” to replace two of his superstars who are underperforming.Personally I would go with Watkins up front flanked by Saka and the very quick Gordon who has the pace and energy to cause Spain problems.In midfield I would use Foden as a number ten with Rice and the talented young Mainoo backing him up. As he is fairly cautious by nature I doubt if Southgate will rock the boat by leaving out Kane and Bellingham but they both need to improve substantially if England are to defeat a Spanish team which boasts the best midfield trio and wingers in the tournament.
Southgate could be coming home a champion despite all the criticism My word I’d love to see it
I’d like to see it, having been fairly unimpressed by what had gone before the semi final which was heaps better