EPL Players at EURO 2024 – Day 23
England and Netherlands won their EURO games yesterday against Switzerland and Turkey, respectively, to set up a semi-final against each other. As part of our EPLNews EURO 2024 report, here is how Premier League players performed in these games.
England 2p-1 Switzerland (5-3 in penalty shootout)
In another display that saw them struggle to create chances, England still found a way to get to the third semi-final in a major tournament under Gareth Southgate.
It was a balanced but mostly drab affair over 120 minutes in Düsseldorf, with the goals coming in a five-minute interval as Breel Embolo scored in the 75th minute and Bukayo Saka equalised in the 80th.
England held their nerve and scored with all five penalties in the shootout through Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Switzerland missed the very first penalty, as Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji’s weak shot, and never recovered from there, despite goals from Fabian Schär, Xherdan Shaqiri and Zeki Amdouni.
Since this was a game involving England, there were plenty of EPL players on show, with a lot of them performing reasonably well given the circumstances. Bukayo Saka won Man of the Match, Declan Rice had another good game and Ezri Konsa did well defensively in replacing the suspended Marc Guehi.
Ratings
England: Jordan Pickford (Everton) – 7.5; Kyle Walker (Manchester City) – 7; John Stones (Manchester City) – 6.5; Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) – 7.5; Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) – 6.5; Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United) – 6.5; Declan Rice (Arsenal) – 8; Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – 8; Phil Foden (Manchester City) – 7; Luke Shaw (Manchester United) – 6.5; Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace) – 7; Cole Palmer (Chelsea) – 7; Ivan Toney (Brentford) – 5.5; Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – N/A
Switzerland: Fabian Schär (Newcastle) – 6.5; Manuel Akanji (Manchester City) – 6.5
You can find highlights and reactions from this game by clicking here.
Netherlands 2-1 Türkiye
The Dutch came from behind to beat Türkiye in Berlin and qualify for the EURO semi-finals for the sixth time in their history.
After opening the scoring through a Samet Akaydin goal in the 35th minute, Türkiye hearts were broken in the end by two goals in six minutes in the second half, as a Stefan De Vrij header and a Mert Muldur own goal gave Netherlands the victory.
In terms of Premier League players involved in this one, Türkiye did not field any, while the Dutch team relied on goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake and Cody Gakpo from the off, with Micky van de Ven entering proceedings in the second half. They all performed well enough, especially the defensive players in the closing stages, as Türkiye pushed hard in search of an equaliser. Verbruggen made a great reaction save to deny a certain goal.
Ratings
Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton) – 7.5; Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 7.5; Nathan Ake (Manchester City) – 7; Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) – 7; Micky van de Ven (Tottenham) – 7
Türkiye: N/A
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