England equalised again at the end and won the penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals, Switzerland are out of the Euro

Switzerland, after their eight-final win over defending champions Italy, challenged another big favourite at the European Football Championship, England. As in the duel with Slovakia, the Albion national team did not convince in Saturday’s quarter-final, yet they forced extra time again with a goal at the end. In the end, it was a penalty shootout, which the players from the cradle of football managed to win despite their negative record in the past.

• An uninspiring first half offered no chances

• Embol’s goal was quickly answered by Saka

• The extra time did not bring a decision, after penalties England celebrate their progress

From the opening whistle in Düsseldorf, the football was fairly evenly matched with no great scoring chances. Neither the English nor the Swiss defence allowed the attacking opponents to get into good shooting positions, or blocked a timely attempt.

The uninspiring first half was only slightly spiced up by a yellow card for Fabian Schär, who illegally stopped Bellingham’s run down the left in the 32nd minute. However, goalkeepers Jordan Pickford and Yann Sommer were virtually out of a job.

Due to a tactical battle without much pace instead of an interesting offensive effort, the game was scoreless at the half. However, head coaches Gareth Southgate and Murat Yakin made no changes to their starting line-ups at the break.

In the 51st minute, the first shot on target was seen when Embolo ran into the box and from a turn sent the ball casually along the ground into the gloves of the England goalkeeper. Overall, however, the picture of the game did not change much after the break.

Still, Aebischer had a solid opportunity in the penalty area in the 66th minute, but his volley lacked the necessary punch and direction. In general, the Swiss gradually gave the English defence a bit more trouble than in the first 45 minutes.

In the 75th minute, the score changed and it was the representatives of the Helvetic Cross who took the lead. After Stones’ light run, Ndoye’s cross from the right was cleared into the net by Breel Embolo from the small area. Southgate immediately responded with a triple substitution, Shaw, Eze and Palmer came on for Mainoo, Trippier and Konsa.

With ten minutes to go, they and the rest of the England team enjoyed a quick reply. Bukayo Saka equalised at 1-1, his successful cross brushing the far post. The remainder of regulation time, with three minutes of stoppage time, did not produce a decisive shot and extra time ensued.

After five minutes, Sommer defused Rice’s dangerous finish from mid-range. In the 102nd minute, Bellingham also failed twice and in the 117th minute, at the other end of the field, substitute Shaqiri hit the crossbar from a corner. Two minutes later Pickford saved Amdouni’s effort.

No goalscorer finally made his mark during the added half hour, so the decision had to be made by penalties, which have long been Albion’s unpopular discipline. After the Düsseldorf shootout, however, they celebrated as Manuel Akanji was the only one to fail in the opening series. The other semi-final pairing tonight will be completed by the Netherlands or Turkey.

Source: UEFA, CT Sport