Opposed to yesterday’s ‘fireworks’ of goals – today’s eight-finals clash between old rivals England and Germany was almost a lullaby. Nevertheless, it was a great match with two goals in Neuer’s net, courtesy of Sterling and Kane in the final quarter of the match. Final score at Webley Stadium in London 2-0.🏴 England = quarter-finalists! 🥳#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/vgBFvV4Vc8— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 29, 2021 Neither of the teams dominated per se but it were English who looked a bit more comfortable in the opening minutes. After a quarter of an hour Man City’s Raheem Sterling tried with a shot from the edge of the box after receiving an accurate pass. Germany’s captain Manuel Neuer made a stunning save to stop the effort from flying into the right side of the goal.Germany waited until the 34th minute to get really close to the goal of the Three Lions. Chelsea’s Timo Werner darted into the penalty area to meet a pass, and he sent a low drive towards the middle of the net, but Jordan Pickford was alert and denied Werner.
In the final seconds of the first half, Harry Kane, one of the attacking disappointments of the tournament so far (alongside with Kylian Mbappe), had a colossal chance to bring the lead to the team he captains.
Second half started with an incredible save by Pickford after Chelsea’s Champions League hero Kai Havertz sent a rocket towards the English goal.
The tempo of the match went even lower after that opportunity. Germans took the ball a little more to themselves while the English lost the enthusiasm from the the first half.Nothing worth mentioning happened for half an hour and then – England’s talisman at this EURO 2020 stroke again. Sterling caught a great low pass from Luke Shaw inside the penalty area, and took advantage of the situation to rifle a low shot into the back of the net.
Sterling is only the second player to score each of England’s first three goals of an edition of a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs), after Gary Lineker did so at the 1986 World Cup.But what was even more astonishing than the opening goal was Thomas Muller’s miss to level the score seven minutes later. Havertz played the ball through to Muller on the edge of the box, he had a 1v1 with Pickford but his shot went fraction wide of the left post.
It was an opportunity you don’t get every day and English knew how to punish such a miss. In the 86th minute, Harry Kane finally scored his first goal of the tournament. Jack Grealish sent a lower cross onto the head of Kane who made no mistake from close range and rerouted the ball into the right side of the goal.
Kane has now equalled Wayne Rooney for goals scored at major tournaments for England (7), with only Gary Lineker (10) and Alan Shearer (9) netting more across the World Cup & EUROs for the Three Lions.It was the final nail in the coffin of the Germans. Joachim Low says goodbye to the national team of Germany while the English wait their opponent which will come out of the clash between Sweden and Ukraine.EURO 2020Eight-finalsEngland – Germany 2-0 (0-0)/Sterling 75′, Kane 86’/22.00: Sweden – Ukraine©SofaScore