Highlights: England come from behind to beat Slovakia
Báo Dân trí•30/06/2024
(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The England team won 2-1 against Slovakia after 120 minutes of tense play at the RheinEnergie Stadium (Germany), thereby securing a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
England had never lost to Slovakia before, and that unbeaten record continued after their Euro 2024 Round of 16 match last night (June 30th). However, England's victory came after a very difficult period, even facing the brink of early elimination. Slovakia played more cohesively and effectively than England for most of the match, at least from the start until the 90+5 minute when England equalized. Unfortunately, Francesco Calzona's team lacked the luck to make history at the Euro. Slovakia played strongly when they faced England. Slovakia entered the match against England with a spirited style of play, catching England completely off guard as they faced intense counter-attacks from their opponents. The English players repeatedly committed fouls to limit Slovakia's counter-attacks, resulting in two yellow cards in the first seven minutes. Slovakian players also didn't hesitate to use tactical fouls to counter-attack, causing the game to become chaotic with intense fouls, and four yellow cards were issued by the referee in the first 17 minutes. In the 25th minute, Slovakia's players combined quickly, and Ivan Schranz broke through and beat Pickford with a diagonal shot to open the scoring. After the goal, England showed no signs of fighting back. Southgate's team only had six shots in the first half, none of which were on target. After the break, England still didn't improve. In the 50th minute, Phil Foden put the ball into the Slovakian net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. England nearly conceded a second goal in the 55th minute due to a very basic mistake: a misplaced pass in midfield. Fortunately for them, David Strelec's long-range shot went wide with the goal empty. In the 45 minutes of regulation time in the second half, England still only had 6 shots, the same as in the first half. The only notable moment for the "Three Lions" was Declan Rice's shot from outside the penalty area hitting the post in the 81st minute. Coach Gareth Southgate made rather slow substitutions, and his tactical adjustment from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 formation didn't produce any significant improvement. Bellingham shines, keeping England's hopes alive. As the match drew to a close, and it seemed England were on the verge of a surprise defeat, Jude Bellingham scored a spectacular overhead kick from the center of the penalty area to equalize 1-1. This was England's first shot on target. Bellingham's equalizer saved England from defeat and kept their hopes of a comeback alive. Two minutes into extra time, Harry Kane was in the right place to head home a header from Ivan Toney. It was a somewhat fortunate goal for Kane, as Toney didn't seem to have assisted him; it was simply a touch inside the box by the England striker. After taking a 2-1 lead, England reverted to a more pragmatic style of play. Slovakia appeared exhausted after 90 tense minutes, and Coach Calzona's team couldn't mount a high-pressure attack. England successfully defended their 2-1 victory and secured their place in the quarter-finals against Switzerland.
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