The Netherlands, the defending champion, held off a stirring comeback by Portugal to close in on a place in the Euro 2022 quarterfinals with a 3-2 win while Sweden struck late to beat Switzerland 2-1 on Wednesday.
The Dutch were without star striker Vivianne Miedema due to a positive case for Covid-19, but got off to a flying start in Leigh as Damaris Egurrola and Stefanie van der Gragt struck inside the first 16 minutes.
Portugal would not even be at the tournament had it not been for Russia’s explusion due to the invasion of Ukraine, but for the second time in as many games it bounced back from a 2-0 deficit. Carole Costa‘s penalty reduced the arrears before halftime and Diana Silva‘s thumping header leveled two minutes into the second half.
The Netherlands thought it had immediately struck back when Jill Roord‘s goal was ruled out by a VAR check for offside. But Mark Parsons‘ team did dig itself out of trouble just after the hour mark when Danielle Van de Donk‘s stunning strike from outside the box arrowed into the top corner.
The victory puts the Netherlands on top of Group C. Both the Dutch and Swedes have four points and need just one point from their final group games to progress.
Ranked second in the world, Sweden was among the pre-tournament favorites but has so far struggled to hit top gear in England. After a 1-1 draw to open its campaign against the Netherlands, the Olympic silver medallists were expected to roll over a Swiss side ranked 20th in the world.
Switzerland’s preparations had also been rocked by a sickness bug in the camp that forced it to cancel training on Monday. But it frustrated Peter Gerhardsson‘s women for 53 minutes at Bramall Lane before Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfo finished off an excellent team move.
Switzerland hit back within two minutes through a fine finish by Paris Saint-Germain’s Ramona Bachmann.
Gerhardsson was forced to turn to his bench for inspiration and it was one of his subs, Hanna Bennison, who scored the winner, with her first international goal 11 minutes from time.
“There are many things we can do better but right now I’m just very happy that we won the match and are in a good position to take us beyond the group stage,” said Gerhardsson.
Switzerland and Portugal now need to win in the final games of Group C on Sunday to have any chance of progessing to the last eight.
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© Agence France-Presse