Roundup of the latest Euro 2020 action as Group D took centre stage whilst Sweden looked to top Group E as they faced Slovakia.
Sworn home enemies, England and Scotland scrapped their way to an entertaining goalless draw in London whilst Croatia came from behind to keep their title dreams alive against Czech Republic in Glasgow.
Sweden meanwhile fought their way past a gutsy Slovakian performance in Russia with a late penalty, as we bring a roundup of all the best action across all three matches.
Sweden 1-0 Slovakia
Sebastian Larsson nearly got Sweden off to a flier in the third minute but his curled shot towards the bottom right corner was saved by Martin Dubravka.
Juraj Kucka then went up the other end two minutes later only to head over from a corner, with Alexander Isak then venturing back up the opposite end only for his shot to be blocked with Kristoffer Olsen’s rebound cross from a corner saved.
Martin Koscelnik then saw two chances go begging for Slovakia as the first half continued to play out in tops-turvy fashion, with Mikael Lustig going closest for Sweden as he headed Larsson’s 13th minute free-kick over the bar.
After half-time, Sweden made a strong restart as Isak’s shot was blocked with Emil Forsberg rifling over via deflection from a corner clearance.
Robin Olsen was soon in action at Sweden’s end as he punched away a 57th minute header from Kucka, with Ludwig Augustinsson and Marcus Danielson two minutes later at Slovakia’s end seeing their headers cleared.
Isak then wasted two chances before Dubravka made a 75th minute foul on Robin Quaison to concede a spot-kick, which Forsberg dispatched into the bottom right corner.
Viktor Claesson then wasted a chance to seal victory seven minutes later as he fired wide from a block of Isak’s possession as the latter cut in from the left, although Sweden clung on to go top of Group E with victory ahead of Slovakia with Spain set to meet Poland tomorrow evening (19 June).
Croatia 1-1 Czech Republic
Czech Republic made a bright start with two early throw-ins and a corner which were all cleared by Croatia, who produced the first proper chance as Ante Rebic was fouled by Tomas Kalas with the resulting free-kick bent over the bar by Dejan Lovren.
Czech Republic’s Jakub Jankto then wasted a 12th minute chance from Vladimir Coufal’s cross before Ivan Perisic and Josko Gvardiol fired over for Croatia.
Croatia eventually conceded a penalty in the 33rd minute as Lovren accidentally fouled Schick during a challenge from Jankto’s corner, although VAR took two minutes to determine the incident wasn’t an accident.
Schick stepped up and dispatched the penalty into the bottom left corner as Dominik Livakovic incorrectly dived to his left, thereby putting the Czech Republic ahead at half-time.
Croatia however immediately found their equaliser two minutes upon the restart as Perisic cut in from the left and rifled across into the top right corner to restore parity.
Both teams then endured a scrappy end-to-end second half as Schick and Adam Hlozek wasted chances for the Czech team, whilst Nikola Vlasic and Luka Modric missed close-range opportunities for Croatia as the game finished 1-1 at full-time.
England 0-0 Scotland
Scotland enjoyed a bright start as Stephen O’Donnell’s fourth minute cutback pass found Che Adams to fire towards the bottom left corner, only for John Stones to block and clear the shot.
Two minutes later and Declan Rice produced England’s first chance as he headed Mason Mount’s free-kick but could only find David Marshall’s arms.
Mount then missed two chances for the hosts with Kieran Tierney blasting over from a 22nd minute corner for Scotland.
Seven minutes later, Reece James swung in a cross for Harry Kane, who could only head wide whilst O’Donnell saw a shot one minute later blocked to Adams who headed wide, with England’s Jordan Pickford then punching away a Scotland corner eight minutes later in a goalless first half.
Three minutes after the restart, Andrew Robertson conceded an England corner after blocking Raheem Sterling’s pass to Phil Foden, who then headed wide from the set piece.
James then blasted wide seven minutes later but Scotland produced a cracking opportunity in the 62nd minute, as Grant Hanley headed a corner down for Lyndon Dykes to blast in but James backtracked to just clear the shot off the line.
Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army then produced a cracking chance 16 minutes later as Robertson’s cross found Adams who could only lash wide at the right post.
Both teams went on to waste chances in the closing stages with a goalmouth scramble in injury time triggered by Rice and James’ one-two move, only for the ball to eventually be cleared as the match finished goalless between the two Auld Enemies.
Czech Republic consequently continue to sit top of Group D ahead of England who they meet in Tuesday’s final Group D clash at Wembley, whilst Croatia take on Scotland at Hampden Park at the same time.
Leave a Reply