Euro 2024: Ollie Watkins sends England to the final

Morning.

England are through to the final of Euro 2024, after a late goal from Ollie Watkins saved us all from more extra-time and possible penalties. To be fair, the first half was by some distance the best Gareth Southgate’s team have played in the tournament so far, and it was the most entertaining 45 minutes of football they’ve been involved in.

The Netherlands took the lead when Xavi Simons won a challenge against Declan Rice, drove towards the box and unleashed a cracking shot which flew beyond Jordan Pickford. It’s a great hit, but one of those where you think the keeper should have done better. Maybe it’s harsh on the Everton man, and perhaps doing a disservice to the quality of the strike, but still … I’d be a bit unhappy with an Arsenal goalkeeper in the same circumstance.

England’s equaliser came from the spot, and I have to say I thought this was a very, very generous decision. Kane had a shot, Denzel Dumfries tried to block it, and the very minimal contact was Kane kicking the defender, not the other way around. Of course he went down like he’d been shot, old habits die hard etc, and that prompted a VAR review that I don’t think they’d have taken a second look at otherwise. Eventually they told the ref to view the incident, and he pointed to the spot.

For me, never a penalty. I’d be furious if that were awarded against us, and I couldn’t help but wonder about all the stories about this official in the build-up and his history. Did that play a part in his decision making, knowing how much that would have been in the spotlight if he’d denied England a penalty? We’ll never know, but the thought occurred to me anyway. Kane, all of a sudden right as rain again, took it and scored.

After that, England had chances. Foden hit the post, and had one cleared off the line, and if any team looked like scoring again, it was the men in white. Both managers made half-time changes, and the fizz went out of the game. It reverted to…

Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/07/euro-2024-ollie-watkins-sends-england-to-the-final/

Author : arseblog

Publish date : 2024-07-11 06:07:21

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