Croatia advances from second place, beating the Scots 3:1

Croatia defeated Scotland 3-1 to reach the European Championship semi-finals. Thanks to the Czech Republic’s loss to England, the Balkans are even in second place in the group.

The Croats were a bit more active from the start and wanted to open the scoring as soon as possible. They managed to do so in the 16th minute when Nikola Vlasic got through with a left-footed shot. David Marshall had no chance.

Five minutes later, Luka Modric fired, but Marshall made an excellent save. The Scots responded in the 24th minute, but John McGinn’s shot was too weak. Then Stephen O’Donnell headed in, but Dominik Livakovic again made the save.

The Scots came through in the 42nd minute. Livakovic was put through by a nice shot from Callum McGregor. That was the last chance of the first half and the score was 1-1.

Ivan Perisic opened the second half with a great chance, but Marshall made a good save for the second time. In the 59th minute McGinn had a goal on his feet, but the ball slipped and missed.

And he regretted it. Three minutes later, Luka Modric got on the end of the ball and smashed a beautiful shot into the net. The safety came in the 77th minute. Ivan Perisic pounced on Modric’s centre and shot past the goalkeeper.

In the 81st minute, Scott McTominay tried to reduce the deficit but missed the target. The match ended with Croatia winning 3-1.

Source: UEFA EURO 2020