A contentious Harry Kane penalty in extra-time sent England through to the final of the European Championships for the first time as Gareth Southgate’s men beat Denmark 2-1 in their UEFA Euro 2020 semi-final clash on Wednesday evening.
The home side made the brighter start to the game but it was the visitors who landed the first blow. Mikkel Damsgaard broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion, hammering home a powerful free-kick in the 30th minute.
The goal seemed to spur England into action and they were back on level terms less than 10 minute later. Bukayo Saka got in behind the Danish defense on the right and sent in a precise cross that Simon Kjaer diverted into his own goal.
The second half could not match the intensity of the first. Both sides came close to taking the lead but neither keeper was unduly tested as the game entered extra time.
The first moment of excitement arrived in the 102nd minute when Raheem Sterling went down in the box under the challenge of Joakim Maehle to win England a penalty. Replays indicated that the contact on Sterling was minimal but the decision stood. Having seen his initial effort saved by Kasper Schmeichel, Kane reacted fastest to slot home the rebound and send his side into the lead.
Southgate’s men proceeded to shut up shop and see out the remainder of the game in relative comfort. Their reward is a mouth-watering clash against Italy in the final on Sunday evening, their first appearance in a major tournament final since 1966.
On that note, here are the hits and flops from a thrilling semi-final clash.
#1 Hit: Mikkel Damsgaard
Although his promotion to the Danish starting eleven came about under rather unfortunate circumstances, Damsgaard grabbed the opportunity with both hands and made the football world take notice.
Starting on the left of a front three, the lively Sampdoria attacker caused the English defense constant problems by dropping into pockets of space. He always made himself available to receive a forward pass whenever Denmark started to put an attack together.
However, it was his set-piece ability that really helped him stand out, as he thundered home the competition’s first goal from a direct free-kick from range to open the scoring on the half-hour mark. In the process, he also became the first player to breach the English defense in the whole tournament. He looked to be a prime candidate to do so again right until he was replaced midway through the second half.
Having barely featured in the group stage, Dolberg was handed a start in Denmark’s round of 16 clash against Wales and announced himself on the Euro 2020 stage with a well-taken brace. He followed that up with another goal in the quarter-finals and thus lined up against England with a lot of momentum behind him.
Unfortunately for Dolberg, the English defense effectively put the shackles on him in this game and forced him to battle for each touch he got on the ball. A couple of hopeful pot-shots from distance was all the Nice striker could manage by way of attacking contributions before being taken off in the 67th minute.