England made an incredible comeback against Slovakia, despite being behind until the 95th minute, without even managing a single shot on target. They won 2-1 and advanced to the quarter-finals of EURO 2024.
After the reigning European champions, Italy, were defeated by Switzerland 2-0 on Saturday evening, England came close to repeating the negative feat of the Italians. They turned the score around from 0-1, with a goal scored by Schranz, and then scored through Bellingham and Kane.
Slovakia started the match at Gelsenkirchen perfectly against the English, with a great goal opportunity in the 5th minute by Hancko, but his shot towards the far corner missed the target. In a tense match with many fouls and yellow cards, Slovakia continued their almost total domination, with another chance for Haraslin, saved by Guehi on the goal line and Pickford. After the English called for a debatable penalty for Foden in the 22nd minute, Slovakia struck. At the end of a textbook counterattack, Schranz found himself one-on-one with Pickford, easily shot past the goalkeeper, and the former adversaries from Wednesday night put points on the board.
The first half ended with English fans whistling at their own favorites. Southgate's England was devoid of ideas, disjointed, lost between the lines, without any valid offensive tactics, unable to even string together two passes in attack.
The English broke the tenacity and vivacity of the Slovaks at the start of the second half, with Foden's goal in the 50th minute, a goal disallowed after Trippier's pass found him slightly offside in front of Dubravka's goal.
The inventors of football continued their sterile and chaotic attacks, failing to pose any danger to Dubravka's goal. In fact, the statistics were horrifying in the 95th minute, not a single shot on target for the Slovaks. But Bellingham's moment of brilliance came, with the Real Madrid star executing a spectacular scissor kick from Guehi's cross, taking the match into some truly desperate extra time for everyone.
Just two minutes into the resumed game, in extra time, after a set-piece, the combination between Toney and Kane led to a decisive header by the star from Bayern Munich, a goal that poured a double dose of lead into the Slovakians' feet, who were just 60 seconds away from a historic qualification to the quarter-finals.
England resiliently held on until the end, secured this 2-1 victory, and heroically advanced to the EURO quarter-finals, where they will face Switzerland in Dusseldorf, their former colleague from the qualifiers. Slovakia missed a huge, historic chance, one might say.
Match summary:
END OF MATCH, England wins 2-1!
Min.114: Gyomber also receives a yellow card.
Min.111: Tupta's free-kick shot just over the crossbar.
Min.108: Vavro gets a yellow card, and the Slovaks bring on Tupta for Pekarik.
Min.106: Gallagher replaces Bellingham, Kane exits, and Konsa enters. Walker is the new captain.
Second half begins!
Half-time, only 15 minutes of play left!
Min.105: Pekarik is inches away from equalizing, his knee shot goes over the crossbar!!
Min.103: Slovaks appeal for a free-kick in front of the box, but nothing is given.
Min.97: The disorientation of the Slovaks is evident after this turnaround of the English score..
Min.92: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL England! Set-piece, the ball eventually reaches Kane from Toney, an unstoppable header, and the English turn the score around, unreal, 2-1!
First half of extra time begins!
End of the match. We have extra time, 1-1 in Germany!
Min.95: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL England!!!! Incredible strike by Bellingham with a scissor kick, the Real Madrid playmaker saves his nation.
Min.94: Foden is substituted for England, Toney comes in.
Min.93: Gyomber comes in for the Slovaks, Schranz, the goal scorer, exits.
Min.90: 6 minutes of extra time!
Min.86: Long-range shot by Lobotka, saved by Pickford in two attempts.
Min.83: Mainoo exits and Eze comes in for the Three Lions.
Min.82: Two more changes for the Slovaks, Kucka and Duda exit, Benes and Bero come in.
Min.81: First big chance for England!! Rice shoots from distance, hits the crossbar, then Kane volleys over the crossbar.
INFO: After 80 minutes, the English have still not had a shot on target!
Min.77: Pekarik, from Hertha Berlin, receives a yellow card. Kane has a wonderful header, which narrowly misses!!
Min.73: The Slovaks continue to control the game, staying high in defense, while the English attacks are sterile.
Min.65: First substitution for England, Trippier exits slightly injured, Palmer comes in.
Min.61: Two substitutions for the Slovaks, Haraslin and Strelec exit, Bozenik and Suslov come in.
Min.60: Foden attempts a fanciful free-kick, but hits the wall with his left foot.
Min.54: Incredible chance for the Slovaks, they lose the ball in midfield, Pickford was way off his line, a Slovak tries the shot of his career, but the ball narrowly misses...
Min.50: Offside, the goal is disallowed, the English remain disappointed. It stays 0-1!
Min.49: GOOOOOOOOOOOAL England!! 1-1, Trippier breaks free with Dubravka, a simple pass in front of the empty goal, from there Foden pushes the ball into the net. We have a match in Gelsenkirchen.
Second half begins!
Half-time, 1-0 for Slovakia!!
Min.47: Mainoo's good long-range shot, deflected, results in a corner.
Min.46: Skriniar fouls Bellingham hard and receives a yellow card, the fifth of the evening.
Min.45: 3 minutes of added time!
INFO: The English seem to be completely devoid of solutions, Southgate's tactics are undoubtedly bankrupt today.
Min.31: Harry Kane's cross from the left flank is too long, the ball doesn't reach Saka. English fans jeer their favorites!
Min.24: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL Slovakia!!! Dramatic goal at Gelsenkirchen, after a textbook counterattack, Schranz finds himself one-on-one with Pickford, an easy shot past the goalkeeper, 1-0!
Min.22: The English appeal for a penalty after Foden's contact in the box. It's only a corner, and in the next play, Mainoo strikes beautifully from a volley, the ball just goes over the bar.
Min.16: Bellingham receives only a yellow card for a very harsh foul on Haraslin.
Min.13: The first Slovak yellow card is shown, Kucka cynically fouls in the middle of the field.
Min.11: Haraslin breaks free with Pickford, his shot hits an English defender after a huge mistake by Walker. Guehi saves the English national team from a sure goal..
Min.9: Trippier mishandles the ball incredibly, and his shot resembles a rugby conversion..
Min.7: Mainoo receives the second yellow card of the game, he fouls a Slovak player badly in the opponent's box.
Min.5: England fails to wake up even in this 4th match of the final tournament. Hancko shoots towards the far corner, somewhere between a shot and a cross, the English escape with great luck..
Min.3: Guehi receives a silly yellow card and will miss the quarter-finals, if England obviously qualifies further.
Match begins!
18.55: The two national anthems are played.
18.52: We are preparing for the start of this match, as soon as the 22 players will enter the field.
Starting lineups:
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford - Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier - Mainoo, Rice - Saka, Bellingham, Foden – Kane.
Substitutes: Alexander-Arnold, Bowen, Dunk, Eze, Gallagher, Gomez, Gordon, Henderson (G), Konsa, Palmer, Ramsdale (G), Shaw, Toney, Watkins, Wharton.
Manager: Gareth Southgate.
Slovakia (4-3-3): Dubravka - Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko - Kucka, Lobotka, Duda - Schranz, Strelec, Haraslin.
Substitutes: Benes, Bero, Bozenik, De Marco, Duris, Gyomber, Hrosovsky, Kosa, Obert, Ravas (G), Rigo, Rodak (G), Sauer, Suslov, Tupta. Manager: Francesco Calzona.
Referee: Umut Meler (Turkey).
Stadium: Veltins Arena (Gelsenkirchen).
This is the third match for the quarter-finals of EURO, after yesterday we had Germany and Switzerland as the first winners, both with the same score, 2-0, against Denmark and Italy, respectively. The winner here will face Switzerland next.
The match takes place in Gelsenkirchen, England won their group C with 5 points, while Slovakia is our last opponent, with whom we drew 1-1, finishing third in our group with four points.
The two teams last met in 2017, in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, with a 2-1 score in favor of the English. In fact, from 2002 until 7 years ago, Slovakia has never defeated England, with the best result being a draw at EURO 2016, a 0-0.
The match will be televised on ProTV.