Five key takeaways as England reach Euros final with last-minute win

South Wales Argus

6 days ago

England delivered another heart-stopping win in extra-time to make the Euro 2025 final with a 2-1 victory over Italy.
It required an added time equaliser and last-minute winner but somehow the Lionesses got over the line once more in Geneva.
Here are five key takeaways from a night that provoked nearly every emotion in the book.
England into a third consecutive major tournament final
No doubt performances will be raked over and tactics dissected as England turned in another questionable display in Geneva that saw them require late intervention once more, but their achievement is undeniably brilliant.
The Lionesses will now appear in a third consecutive major tournament final - a feat of consistency that is nothing short of remarkable.
The feat also marks a fifth consecutive major final for Sarina Wiegman, having reached two with the Netherlands before joining England.
Whatever it is that has got them here - resilience, belief or just a 'proper English attitude' - it surely cannot just be luck after completing the feat so many times.
They will either meet Spain or Germany to set up a definite repeat of one of their prior two finals - losing to Spain 1-0 in the World Cup final in 2023 and defeating Germany 2-1 at Euro 2022.
Poor start proves costly…again
When the post-mortem started on England's questionable first 70 minutes against Sweden in the quarter-finals, the overwhelming call was simple: start better.
It was a call it felt obvious for the Lionesses to heed as they entered the semi-finals as clear favourites against an Italy side who had last reached a European Championship semi-final in 1997.
Though in control for large periods of the opening half, England seemed to coast rather than take the impetus to press for a goal.
It fell straight into the hands of an Italy side who clearly planned to sit back and soak up England pressure before raiding on the break.
And that was exactly what happened as Sofia Cantore charged down the right to fire in a cross that was not dealt with by the Lionesses and Barbara Bonansea was on hand to fire home at the far post.
Once more, it left England with a deficit to fight back from and they left it right until the last minute to save themselves.
If they start like this again in the final, the outcome could prove much worse.
Italy's back five brilliance
If Andrea Soncin could have produced a blueprint of how he wanted the semi-final to play out, it probably would not have looked too dissimilar to the 90 minutes that emerged in Geneva.
It was only the added and extra-time after that proved the manager's undoing.
Setting up in a back five, the Italians sought to absorb England's early pressure and did so to full effect, soaking up all their threat and with it seemingly any attacking impetus from the Lionesses.
Soncin had clearly set up to hit England on the break and they did so devastatingly in the 33rd minute as Cantore burst down the right with pace and caught their opponents' defence off guard.
Bonansea was on hand to deliver what appeared to be a fatal blow and from there they could set up to frustrate.
Bodies behind the ball, time-wasting unlocked with Laura Giuliani booked for the offence, and it never looked likely that the Lionesses would penetrate the blockade until the entrance of Michelle Agyemang.
Agyemang again
Michelle Agyemang just continues to deliver. At 19 years old she has delivered in a major tournament twice in just a handful of appearances.
On Tuesday evening, she was once more in the right place at the right time and showed maturity beyond her years to finish with aplomb.
In a performance where England were all too often too hasty with their final ball, rushed passes and shots. With a performance that was veering towards head loss, Agyemang brought a calm in the box.
Despite being the youngest player on the pitch, when Beth Mead cut the ball back into her path, she waited a second before placing her shot past Giuliani.
It was with just four minutes of extra time remaining that Agyemang came millimetres away from turning from hero to legend.
Breaking free of the Italy defence she showed her strength to fire a deliberately clipped shot towards the goal that dipped to hit the crossbar and rebound off.
Agyemang is not a star in the making but a star already shining the brightest in the Lionesses' constellation.
Chloe Kelly is clutch
It was not an all-time performance from Chloe Kelly and yet she still picked up the official Player of the Match award.
The scenario was exactly what you would expect of a player of Kelly's mentality.
Shunned at Manchester City this season, leaving her in a place where she considered quitting football, Kelly forced a move to Arsenal to rejuvenate her England hopes.
Despite the doubters, in north London she thrived. She would not only force her way into a strong starting XI but start as Arsenal won the Champions League after defeating Barcelona.
Having been named on the bench for all of England's games at Euro 2025 so far, she came on once more to prove her worth.
Against Sweden, that had shown in the form of two brilliant assists/pre-assists to set-up England's comeback.
On Wednesday that contribution shifted because while her crossing was not up to scratch, noticeably putting a corner straight into the side-netting with minutes left, she stepped up to take a potentially game-winning penalty.
Despite seeing her first attempt saved, she was on hand to show that resilience again, and power home the rebound.
It marks a second time the winger has given England an historic 2-1 win in extra-time, having been the scorer of the winner at Wembley back in 2022.