England are through to the final of Euro 2024 after a dramatic late winner against the Netherlands on Wednesday night.
The Three Lions have had quite the summer at Euro 2024.
A drab group stage campaign was followed by an unconvincing last 16 win over Slovakia, which required an injury-time leveller from Jude Bellingham just to keep England in the tournament.
Penalties then handed England a quarter-final win over Switzerland, teeing up a semi-final showdown against the Netherlands in Dortmund.
England fell behind to a Xavi Simons stunner, only for Harry Kane to level it up from the spot having been fouled inside the box.
It looked like England would be facing extra time for a third game in a row, but Ollie Watkins drove home a stunning late winner to spark wild scenes on the pitch and in the stands.
England now meet Spain in the Euro 2024 final and Gareth Southgate will be looking to go one better than the final defeat to Italy in 2021.
Dutch media on Bukayo Saka
England made just one change from the side which beat Switzerland as Marc Guehi returned in place of Ezri Konsa.
That meant Bukayo Saka once again starting down the right side, almost featuring as a winger in possession and a wing back out of possession.
Saka was superb once again and had a goal ruled out in the second half before being substituted late on.
The Arsenal star was mostly coming up against Manchester City defender Nathan Ake, who was deployed as a left back by Ronald Koeman.
Saka had some joy against Ake in the first half, showing that he can go inside or outside as England dominated the first period.
Ake steadied himself and fared better after the break but Saka was certainly impressive up against the City man.
The Dutch media have delivered their view on the battle, with Voetbalzone rating Ake at 7 out of 10.
They suggested that Ake had a ‘particularly hard time’ against Saka and needed Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo to help deal with the Arsenal star.
They did though suggest that Ake improved and was ‘very strong’ in the second half.
“The usually reliable Nathan Aké had a particularly hard time against the lightning-fast Bukayo Saka, especially in the first half,” they wrote. “He often needed the help of Gakpo to keep the Arsenal winger in check. Aké recovered in the final phase of the first 45 minutes and was also very strong on the left after the break.”
Voetbal Primeur went a little lower at 6.5 out of 10, suggesting that Ake had a ‘difficult’ start with Saka going at him.
They felt that Ake was able to flip the script though and ended up giving Saka a ‘more than difficult evening’ going the other way.
“The start was difficult, but Aké fought his way into the match and ultimately gave English tastemaker Bukayo Saka a more than difficult evening. Again, the left back scored a more than sufficient,” they wrote.
This was a great battle to watch and Saka will certainly feel that he got the better of their meeting.
The pair will be up against each other in Premier League action soon enough – and Arsenal will certainly be looking for Saka to bring his A-game against Ake in the title race.
The post 'Particularly hard time': Dutch media react to how Nathan Ake coped against Arsenal's Bukayo Saka appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/vacj3M1
No comments: