Roundup of the latest Euro 2020 action as the knockout stages got underway with the first pair of Round of 16 matches in Amsterdam and London.
Wales got this stage of the tournament underway as they took on Denmark at Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam in their bid to chase a second consecutive Quarter-Final appearance, before Group A winners – Italy took on Austria in London at Wembley Stadium.
Wales 0-4 Denmark
Denmark got off to an early flier as an attack up the right found Martin Branthwaite, only for Chris Mepham to block the cross 25 seconds in with the resulting corner cleared.
Thomas Delaney then fouled Aaron Ramsey three minutes later with Daniel James swinging in the free-kick which met Kieffer Moore’s head but was blocked and the resulting corner was swiftly cleared by Andreas Christiansen.
Kasper Dolberg curled an eighth minute shot for Denmark over the bar before Wales soon began to dominate as Ramsey and Gareth Bale both wasted two chances but a tactical switch soon saw Denmark seize control which paid dividends in the 27th minute.
A pass from Delaney was played up the left flank to Mikkel Damsgaard who teed up Dolberg to cut in and curl across into the bottom right corner, thereby putting Denmark ahead with the latter two then combining again five minutes later but Damsgaard’s pullback was cleared.
Dolberg then played a 35th minute one-two with Delaney but his shot was cleared by Danny Ward in the last clear-cut chance of the first half.
Three minutes upon the restart after half-time, Denmark broke from a foul on Kieffer Moore as Martin Branthwaite’s low cross was clumsily blocked by Neco Williams to Dolberg, who smashed in from close range.
Both teams then exchanged chances throughout the second half with Christiansen blocking Daniel James’ 59th minute shot and Ramsey rifled over on the volley four minutes later for Wales, followed by Mathias Jensen curling just wide of top right corner in the 65th minute for Denmark.
Denmark eventually found a third in the 88th minute as Joakim Maehle met Jensen’s flick-on of a throw in and fired in on the cut-in from the right, before Branthwaite completed a four goal Danish victory six minutes later as he fired in from a knockdown flick as VAR overturned an initial offside judgement.
Italy 2-1 (AET) Austria
A scrappy start saw Domenico Berardi fire wide for Italy in the first proper opportunity after 11 minutes before seeing another chance denied a minute later.
Lorenzo Insigne then saw two chances go begging before Nicolo Barella unleashed a 17th minute shot which was blocked by Daniel Bachmann’s left leg as Italy dominated, despite chances often coming to nothing in the first half.
Roberto Mancini’s Italians however did get their best chance in the 43rd minute as Leonardo Spinazzola’s shot was blocked, with Leonardo Bonucci heading the resulting corner over the bar.
Austria who were made to do the hard defensive work in the first half came out fighting after half-time as Marko Arnautovic missed a chance four minutes into the second half, before David Alaba bent a free-kick over the bar following a foul by Giovanni Di Lorenzo on Christoph Baumgartner.
Spinazzola and Bonucci then wasted chanced for Italy just before the hour mark before Alaba headed Konrad Laimer’s cross across to Arnautovic at the right post to nod in during the 65th minute, only for VAR to controversially deem the Austrian just offside and disallowed the goal.
Three minutes later, Marcel Sabitzer fired wide from an interception before Manuel Locatelli and Insigne put shots just wide of the top right corner as the game continued to get scrappy with poor finishing at both ends as the game finished goalless at the end of normal time.
Italy however benefitted from extra time as Federico Chiesa’s 94th minute shot from Andrea Belotti’s pass was saved by Bachmann, yet the Austrian couldn’t stop Chiesa a minute later from knocking down Spinazzola’s direct cross on his chest before lashing in on the bounce at the right post to put Italy ahead.
Insigne then saw a 104th minute free-kick towards the top left corner punched away by Bachmann with the resulting corner eventually finding substitute – Matteo Pessina who played short one-two with Belotti before firing in to double the Italian’s lead just before half-time in extra-time.
Michael Gregoritsch almost reduced Austria’s deficit on the final restart as he drove forward and blasted towards the bottom right corner but Gianluigi Donnarumma just punched clear in time.
Belotti and Di Lorenzo then missed late chances as Austria set about chasing a consolatory goal at minimum, as Sasa Kalajdzic nodded in a 114th minute header from a corner to set up a grandstand finish which ultimately wasn’t enough as Italy clung on for victory.
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