Netherlands, England tied after frenetic back-and-forth first half at Euro 2024
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After a frenetic first half filled with chances for both sides, England and Netherlands are tied 1-1 in their semifinal matchup at UEFA Euro 2024.
Xavi Simons scored the opener for the Dutch in the seventh minute, and Harry Kane answered for England with a penalty kick in the 18th.
Possession, passes and shot on target heavily favoured the English in the first 45 minutes.
Netherlands controlled possession in the final minutes of the half, but were unable to break the English formation to seriously challenge Jordan Pickford.
Memphis Depay was taken off for Joey Veerman in the 35th minute for the Netherlands, after he went to the ground with an apparent injury.
Phil Foden nearly stunned the Dutch side in the 31st minute, when his shot from 30 yards curled in and bounced off the post out to safety.
Netherlands was the weaker side through the midway point of the first half, but they found a promising opportunity on a corner kick in the 28th minute: Denzel Dumfries got a header on the ball that pinged off the top of the crossbar and out.
After a slow start, England turned up the pressure: Foden worked into the crease into the 22nd minute, and fired the ball by Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen, but Dumfries was on the goal line and made the save to preserve the tie.
England found their first attempt on net when Kane tried from distance in the 12th minute, but Verbruggen was up to the task.
Moments later, a ball bounced to Kane in the danger zone, and hit shot was fired with some velocity but went just over the net.
Dumfries was shown the first yellow card of the match on the play, as he fouled Kane during the shot. On the ensuing penalty try, Kane drilled the shot in the corner of the net to even the score at 1-1 in the 18th minute.
While England looked to move the ball with a slower pace, as they've done often in the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, the Dutch attack was quick in the opening minutes.
A pass went just long for Donyell Malen in the fifth minute, but Simons found some space and unleashed a rocket from the edge of the English crease moments later.
His shot fired right by the hand of English keeper Pickford and into the back of the net for the match's opening goal in the seventh minute.
This is only the second time Netherlands scored the opener in their six games to this point - they needed come-from-behind efforts to beat Turkiye in the quarter-finals and in a 2-1 victory in their opener against Poland.
The winner will battle Spain in the final on Sunday. You can watch the rest of the match LIVE on TSN1/4/5, TSN.ca and the TSN App.