England took one step closer to the final with a Quarter Final win against Sweden. Goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli secured England’s place in the semis. The team will now play the winner of the match between Croatia and Russia.
Headed goals win the day
The game started in a tense and tight fashion. Both teams looked more scared of making a mistake than securing a victory. England soon looked like the dominant side and took control of the game early on. England won a corner kick on the half hour mark, which Leicester’s Harry Maguire converted past Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen. The team then went into the half with a 1-0 lead over Sweden.
Sweden looked to be the better side early in the second half. However, Sweden once again looked second best after the team went even further behind in the 58th minute. Dele Alli converted Jesse Lingard’s cross to give England an even bigger lead.
England managed to see out the win with an incredible goalkeeping performance from Jordan Pickford. This has given England a new found belief that this is their year. This marks England’s 3rd appearance in the final 4 of a World Cup tournament. England reached their first Semi Final since 1990.
Quarter Final Man of the Match
England put in an overall dominant performance with many players deserving of this award. One player who especially deserved it was England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The Everton stopper put in a man of the match performance keeping England in the game with a series of important saves. If Pickford hadn’t been in form, the Three Lions risked conceding goals to a strong Sweden side.
The England keeper pulled off three saves in the game. Those three saves were vital and left England retaining a 2-0 advantage in the game to see them through to the semis.
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