Reigning champions the Netherlands and Sweden breeze through to the quarter-finals – Group C

Reigning champions the Netherlands and runners up from the 2017 Euros tournament Sweden, both breezed through to the quarter-finals of the competition with victories last night.

Switzerland vs Netherlands

Going into their final group game at Bramall Lane all The Dutch needed to do was avoid defeat, while all the swiss had to do was try and win, which set up an enticing encounter down in Sheffield.

It was The Swiss who started better in the game, a brilliant little touch from Ramona Bachmann fell perfectly to Sandy Maendly whose shot from outside the area was superbly saved by Daphne van Domselaar.

Shortly after that, The Swiss were in trouble. Lineth Beerensteyn found herself clean through on goal, took a heavy touch but was alleged to have been brought down by the Swiss goalkeeper Gaëlle Thalmann, so a penalty kick was awarded. However, after consulting with VAR and looking on the pitch-side monitor the referee decided that the 36-year-old keeper did get a touch on the ball, so the decision was overturned.

Overall, the first half was sluggish, no teams created any real clear cut chances and the scoreline remained 0-0. But the  22,596 fans in attendance – a new record crowd for a European Championship group game not featuring the tournament hosts, were surely hoping for a better second half as both of these sides were desperate to win in order to secure their place in the quarter-finals.

And shortly after the restart it was 0-1 to The Netherlands, a powerful header from Stefanie van der Gragt looked to be heading in at the far post, and in an attempt to clear it off the line Swiss player Ana-Maria Crnogorčević headed into her own net.

Almost immediately after the Dutch went into the lead Switzerland fought back. Again brilliant play from Ramona Bachmann saw her get away from Sherida Spitse before pulling the ball back for her teammate Géraldine Reuteler who calmly finished past van Domselaar and more importantly got her side back into the game.

So, we went into the final ten minutes of the game, and all of a sudden it came to life. An excellent cross from the right hand side by Lynn Wilms saw the Swiss goalkeeper rush out to try and clear, but she misjudged it and Romee Leuchter headed in her first ever goal for her country and what an important goal it was as The Dutch were once again winning the game.

Just minutes later The Dutch scored another two goals to put the icing on the cake and guarantee their place in the quarter finals. Substitute Victoria Pelova got on the end of van der Gragt’s cross and fired in. This did prompt a lengthy VAR check as their was a potential offside but the goal was correctly given. Then again, Leuchter, who only scored her first goal for her country in the 84th minute had another goal after sliding in at the back post to get on the end of Pelova’s scuffed shot.

Sweden vs Portugal

Similar to the situation in Sheffield, at Leigh Sports Village, all the Swedes needed to do was avoid defeat while Portugal had to win to keep their dream alive of getting through to the quarter finals.

But over the 90 minutes in this game The Swedes were ruthless in front of goal and eased their way through to the knockout stages of a major tournament again, by winning 5-0.

The team ranked second in the world showed the Portuguese no mercy as they put the game to bed in the first half by scoring 3 goals.

Manchester City midfielder Filippa Angeldal easily fired her side into the lead after a poor clearance by Portugal goalkeeper Patricia Morais (who was making her first appearance at the tournament) following a corner from Jonna Andersson.

Shortly after a brilliant back heeled pass from Kosovare Asslani put Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius through on goal, the forward fired it past the Portuguese keeper but unfortunately her goal was ruled out for offside.

And right before half time, again from another set piece, this time a free-kick it was 2-0. Asslani from the right hand side pulled the ball back to the edge of the area for Angeldal whose superb first time shot found the bottom right corner giving Morais no chance and gave the 25-year-old her second goal of the game.

Then deep into added time of the first half, it was 3-0 and pretty much game over as Carole Costa headed into her own net from a corner.

In the second half, the Swedes weren’t quite done. Asslani did make it 4-0 from the penalty spot after Diana Silva hand-balled a cross from a Swedish player in the area. Then to rub salt in the wounds of the Portuguese players, after having two goals ruled out for offside earlier on in the game, Blackstenius fired in her sides fifth goal of the day and secured their place in the quarter-finals.

So, in the end it was Sweden and The Netherlands who progressed from Group C into the quarter finals of the Women’s Euros 2022. Sweden finished top of the group with Netherlands in second. Both sides produced a statement win to take with them as they go into the knockout stage.

Who are they facing?

The Netherlands will take on France (the winners of Group D) in an enthralling fixture at the New York Stadium on Saturday July 23 at 8pm (BST). Sweden will take on the runners up of Group D (which will be decided this evening) at Leigh Sports Village on Friday July 22 at 8pm (BST).

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