Roundup of the concluding Quarter-Finals as Czech Republic, Denmark, Ukraine and England battled for the two last semi-final spots.
Czech Republic entered this stage looking to follow up their shock Round of 16 win over Netherlands, whilst Denmark were looking to record a third consecutive victory on the comeback trail after losing their two opening group matches.
Ukraine meanwhile were looking for a first semi-final appearance in all major competitions as they met England in Rome, as the Three Lions looked to follow up their Round of 16 win over Germany with victory to book a home semi-final.
Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark
Tomas Kalas almost fired Czech Republic ahead after four minutes but his shot was blocked, enabling Denmark to attack up the other end as Ondrej Celustka blocked Kasper Dolberg’s shot with the resulting corner headed in by Thomas Delaney.
Dolberg, Delaney and Martin Branthwaite then all saw first-half chances go begging but Dolberg eventually got his goal in the 42nd minute as he flicked in Joakim Maehle’s cross, thereby doubling Denmark’s lead at the break.
Czech Republic however made a lively start to the second half as Antonin Barak and Patrik Schick both missed early chances, with Schick eventually reducing the Czechs’ deficit just four minutes into the half as he flicked in from Vladimir Coufal’s cross.
Yussuf Poulsen saw three individual chances go begging for Denmark as Czech Republic soon set about chasing an equaliser, yet were ultimately unable to do so as Tomas Soucek put two late chances wide with the Danes clinging on to reach their first Euro semi-final since winning the competition in 1992.
Ukraine 0-4 England
A bright start from England saw Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions start on the front foot as Raheem Sterling was able to beat Mykola Shaparenko on the left to cut in and tee up Harry Kane, who poked in from close range to put the 2018 World Cup fourth-placed finishers an early lead.
Ukraine thereafter applied pressure which nearly got them back level after 17 minutes as Roman Yaremchuk pounced on a loose pass from Kyle Walker, only for his shot to be denied by Jordan Pickford.
Serhiy Kryvtsov 11 minutes later fouled Sterling to concede a free-kick from which Harry Kane headed over the bar, after manging to get a connection to Luke Shaw’s cross.
Five minutes later, Sterling cut in from the left towards the goal line only to pull back for Declan Rice to shoot but Heorhiy Bushchan was alert to punch away.
Yaremchuk went up the other end in the 37th minute and pulled back to Andriy Yarmolenko but the Ukrainian and Oleksandr Zinchenko both fumbled their shots, before Jadon Sancho three minutes later wasted a huge chance for England as he fired towards goal on the turn but Bushchan blocked.
Viktor Tsyhankov then tried to force a late first half equaliser with a curled shot but Shaw cleared to Shaparenko, who could only fire his shot wide of the right corner in the final chance of the first half.
Just seconds into the opening minute of the second half, Serhiy Sydorchuk conceded a free-kick after fouling Kane, with Shaw swinging the set piece into the box for Maguire to head in to give England a two goal cushion.
Four minutes later, Shaw made an overlapping run as Sterling found himself surrounded by Ukrainian players and was able to pick up a short sideway pass which he chipped into the box for Kane to nod in to seal victory.
Kane then nearly got his hat-trick in the 62nd minute as he volleyed towards goal from a loose clearance but Bushchan was alert to punch behind for a corner, which substitute – Jordan Henderson nodded in one minute later for his first international goal and wrap up victory.
Yevhenii Makarenko and Yarmolenko meanwhile wasted late chances to net consolatory goals as England dug deep for a seventh consecutive clean sheet in all competitions, ultimately completing a four goal win to set up a semi-final against Denmark at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday 7 July from 8pm BST UK Time.
Leave a Reply