England booked a place in the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup thanks to two headers from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli at the Samara Arena in Russia.
The 2-0 win over Sweden means that this record breaking Three Lions squad end a 28 year-old wait for a semi-final spot at the World Cup having last done so in 1990.
3 – England have progressed into the semi-finals of the World Cup for only the third time, having also done so in 1966 and 1990. Magic. #ENG #SWEENG #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/AfiTZEml04
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— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 7, 2018
Defensively, Sweden came into the game with a good record conceding only two goals in that group game against Germany while the English side had no clean sheet conceding a goal in each of their last four games in Russia.
At the end, two crosses and two precise headers first from Maguire in the 40th minute and then Alli in the 58th minute ensured the Three Lions progressed to the next round.
The Swedes played a rather underwhelming game for most part of the game especially in the first half setting up to soak up the pressure and try to counter but that soon came back to hurt them when England took the lead late in the first half.
In the second half having gone a goal down, they became more purposeful going forward and almost levelled things up in the 46th minute but were denied by a good save from Jordan Pickford in the England goal.
46' – SAVE!!! A chance for #SWE early on but Pickford makes the save. #SWE coming out to grab an equaliser now. #YourSportsMemo #SterlingBank #WorldCup #SWEENG
— ACLSports (@acl_sports) July 7, 2018
That save proved crucial as England weathered the early pressure from the Swedes and went on to score a second through Dele Alli.
58' – GOOAALLL!!! Dele Alli doubles #ENG lead with a good header.
Another aerial ball, another goal for #ENG #SWE 0-2 #ENG#YourSportsMemo #SterlingBank #WorldCup #SWEENG
— ACLSports (@acl_sports) July 7, 2018
22y 87d – Dele Alli is the second youngest player to score a World Cup goal for England, behind only Michael Owen (18y 190d v Romania in 1998). Youth. #ENG #SWEENG #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/E120fo5XVP
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 7, 2018
The Swedes however didn’t give up on getting a goal as Jordan Pickford was called into action for a second and third time as the Everton goalkeeper did well to thwart the danger in what happened to be a man of the match performance for the young lad.
68' – Pickford with another save to deny #SWE as the Swedes look to pull one back. #YourSportsMemo #SterlingBank #WorldCup #SWEENG
— ACLSports (@acl_sports) July 7, 2018
With a two goal advantage and time running out for a Swedish comeback, England looked comfortable and barely needed to switch gears against the Swedes who were kept at bay by Pickford in goal.
After booking a semi-final spot against Sweden, England will play either Russia or Croatia in Moscow on Wednesday in a place for the finals on July 15th.
