England v/s Sweden, 2018 World Cup quarter-final: England 2-0, qualify for 1st semi-final since 1990

Is it actually coming home?

All over at Samara, England have done it. They beat Sweden 2-0 to enter the semi-final of the World Cup first time since 1990! 

Stoppage time of five minutes. Can Sweden score? Or 'Is it coming home' takes another step forward to getting real? 

England substitution: Raheem Sterling off after a good performance. Marcus Rashford on.

Missed England's goals? Watch both the stunning headers HERE. 

Sweden, desperate, but have not been able to score, courtesy of some superb work from the English goalkeeper. Another free kick for England, but Trippier delivers it poorly, goes straight out of play.

STAT ALERT: 

No, this was not a result of a corner or penalty. England scores only third goal this season from the open area. Jesse Lingard sends a cross from the right and Dele Alli heads a smooth header five yards away from the goal. Samara Stadium knows how to create the environment there – they immediately play, “It’s Coming Home by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds blares out over the PA System.”

England 2 – 0 Sweden

GOALLLLLL - Dele Alli makes it 2-0 for England. Opens semi-final doors here?

Whenever England win a corner, it’s a red flag for Sweden. They form a line of six in the Swedish penalty  area as Trippier takes the corner for them. He sends the cross almost flawlessly but Granqvist clears that and denies England a second goal.

Here are some interesting stats from the ongoing game:

A crucial one: England have lost just one of their 22 World Cup games in which they have been leading at half-time before today (W17 D4), with that sole defeat being the 1970 quarter-final against West Germany.

Second half begins! 

Two corners in a row and England failed to make something out of those. Sterling made his presence felt throughout the half but ends on not-so-good position. Missed a few towards the end, when he should have passed and not shoot directly.

HLAF-TIME – England 1 – 0 Sweden

Sterling again, is just five-yards from the goal, shoots but Swedish goalier Robin Olsen denies him another. The newsroom explodes saying, “he should have passed to Harry Kane!” Sterling anyway was offside.

Sterling has had a busy day at work so far in this half. He sprints to inside left channel, his cross goes only near the post. He did not have a lot of power there but Dele Alli gets the ball, Swedish goalkeeper does the rest with an brave flick to deny England a second goal here.

STAT: Out of England’s 9 goals this World Cup, only 2 have come from open place, rest others from corners, penalty, etc. (including today’s).

GOALLLLLL!
England have scored from another header. Harry scores, no not that one, it’s Harry Maguire with his maiden goal for his country. What a stage to get that!

Ashley Young delivers the corner from the flag end, Maguire jumped and with all his power, headed the ball past the Swedish goalie inside the left upright.

With half of the first half done, the game has not justified to a knockout quality. But, England slowly are beginning to pull up the level. Young delivers a cross from the left, Harry Kane is running for it but Swedish Andreas Granqvist interrupts.

First proper counter attack from England and Harry Kane: An excellent sprint from Raheem Sterling passes the ball to his captain from the edge of the penalty box but Kane’s shot goes wide from the edge of the box. That was a first real scare for Sweden.  

England’s Kieran Trippier curls in, his header is safely cleared. Harry Maguire’s foul gives Sweden another free-kick. Their kick goes not too far outside their own penalty area. Slow start from both the sides but England seem a better one. I guess.

So far, both the teams seem nervy; neither have attempted to go all attacking. A shot on the goal yet to happen.

Meanwhile, here is what the fans feel so far:

Early days, but im sure #SWE will be the happier with the opening 15mins.

They've kept their shape better, pressed better and forced #ENG to play a few sloppy passes.

Not a lot in it, but we will need to improve. #SWEENG

— Chris Jones (@wurzelofoz) July 7, 2018

So far, both the teams seem nervy; neither have attempted to go all attacking. A shot on the goal yet to happen.

Meanwhile, here is what the fans feel so far:

Early days, but im sure #SWE will be the happier with the opening 15mins.

They've kept their shape better, pressed better and forced #ENG to play a few sloppy passes.

Not a lot in it, but we will need to improve. #SWEENG

— Chris Jones (@wurzelofoz) July 7, 2018

It’s Sweden with the free-kick now. Seb Larsson takes it, shoots but it is too far near the post but they win a throw-in now. The ball flies into the mixer where Swedish Andreas Granqvist is severely penalized for hand ball.

Krafth with the ball, but losses possession to England’s Dele Alli just 35 yards from the goal. He gives a defensive pass to Harry Kane, who goes on a minor counter attack. But, his pass ends up too near to Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen.

Sweden with earn early foul, England win a free-kick in midfield. Kyle Walker delivers a cross-field pass to Young, out of field.

Both the teams pose for FIFA’s anti-racism snap before the kickoff.

3,2,1, get set go!

Viktor Claesson with the first kick for Sweden as play gets under way in the Samara Arena.

Players come out of the tunnel, Harry Kane and Andreas Granqvist walk out for probably their most important match. National anthems begins. 

Apparently, the majority of tickets of today’s game were booked by the German fans, assuming the defending champions surely would make it to the last-8. However, they got knocked out of the group stage. The German fans have handed the tickets back but then the English/Swedish fans have not been able to get flight tickets at the last moment – results into a near empty Samara Stadium, with the kickoff about 20 minutes.

England Sweden have met 25 times in an official international match. Here is their head to head:

England 8-7 Sweden and the rest of the games have ended in a draw.

England manager Gareth Southgate says, "This might be one of the best opportunities we ever have!" 

Do you agree?