Either
Croatia or Russia will face Gareth Southgate's England in the World Cup
semi-finals after the Three Lions beat Sweden 2-0 in Samara.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire and Dele Alli scored headers as England booked their
place in a first World Cup semi-final since 1990 by beating Sweden 2-0.
Maguire and Alli struck either side of half-time in Samara on
Saturday to move the Three Lions into the last four, and they will face
either Croatia or hosts Russia on Wednesday.
England dominated after making a slow start, Maguire scoring from
Ashley Young's left-wing corner after half an hour to put Gareth
Southgate's side on track.
Jordan Pickford made tremendous saves to deny Marcus Berg and
Viktor Claesson either side of Alli doubling England's lead, the
midfielder nodding in Jesse Lingard's centre.
Although the World Cup's top scorer Harry Kane was muted, England
held Sweden at bay to follow up their penalty success against Colombia
with a more comfortable victory.
Sweden had advanced from three of their four previous World Cup
quarter-finals but could not find a way to beat Pickford as the Three
Lions marched on to the semis.
Claesson hammered the game's first shot over the crossbar in the
12th minute as a cagey start saw both sides play loose passes due to
early nerves.
Raheem Sterling then set up Golden Boot leader Kane, who slotted
wide, with England - playing in their first World Cup quarter-final
since 2006 - starting to find their feet.
And they took the lead in the 30th minute with their eighth
set-piece goal of the tournament. Young's outswinging corner found
Maguire to power home his first international goal, goalkeeper Robin
Olsen and Ola Toivonen on the line unable to stop the defender's
downward header.
The offside flag spared Sterling's blushes when Kieran Trippier's
long-range pass sent him clear to miss and the forward soon wasted
another chance from Jordan Henderson's lofted throughball.
Olsen did well initially with a strong hand to deny Sterling, who
dallied with the rebound and allowed Andreas Granqvist to make a vital
block.
Pickford was called into action for the first time shortly after
the restart, diving to his left to superbly palm away a header from
Berg, who climbed above Young at the back post.
The importance of that terrific save was made clearer as England struck again in the 58th minute.
Another England set-piece caused chaos and, although Sweden
initially cleared their lines when Lingard delivered a perfect cross to
the back post, Alli was there to double his side's advantage.
Pickford made a smart stop from Claesson after he combined well
with Berg, Sweden coach Janne Andersson turning to John Guidetti from
the bench.
Guidetti teed up strike partner Berg in the 71st minute but
Pickford, who kept his first clean sheet of the World Cup, tipped the
effort over the crossbar.
Such was England's comfort in the closing stages, Henderson - at
risk of missing the semi-final through suspension - could be replaced by
Eric Dier as Southgate's side moved on to Moscow.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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