- England's two headed goals from Harry Maguire’ 30th minute and Dele Alli's 59th minute ensured victory over Sweden
- Sweden failed to come to convert any of the scoring opportunities they created during the match
- England will now wait to know their semifinal opponent after Croatia's quarterfinal tie against Russia tonight
England’s Three Lions defeated Sweden by 2-0 margin courtesy of two headed goals from Harry Maguire’ 30th minute and Dele Alli's 59th minute during Saturday’s quarterfinal fixture to book passage into the semifinals of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The encounter decided at Samara Arena was an all-European affair was evenly contested on a fantastic pitch that saw both sides giving their best right from the start.
In the early moments of the second half Sterling was penalised for pushing Andreas Granqvist as the English continued controlling the game after five minutes of restart.
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Sweden also had their chances to level scores but England kept pilling the pressure with the Kieran Trippier supplying crosses from the right.
On the other hand, Victor Nilsson Lindeloef relieved Sweden of numerous pressure from the Three Lions.
On the 58th minute Young tried to pick out a team-mate in the area but his cross was again blocked by an opponent.
Manchester United's Jesse Lingard also tired to hit another goal but it was also stopped before a great cross on the 59'allowed Dele Alli to finish with another header for England's second goal on the day.
From this moment onward it was joy all the way for the Three Lions fans as Sweden failed to come to the party.
England must now prepare for a huge match in Moscow on Wednesday, when they will face either Russia or Croatia, who play later on Saturday night.
England players celebrate their 2-0 win over Sweden on Saturday. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Indeed from the commencement of the game England made their intentions known quite but the Swedes were ready for the contest.
The English had the first throwing of the match in the first minute right in the opponent's half of the field but nothing came out of it.
The Three Lions were in control but Sweden had other plans of theirs after Viktor Claesson tried to play a nice 1-2 with Marcus Berg, on the 3rd minute but his team mate fails to connect.
On the 5th the stats stood in the favour as ball possession was Sweden 29%, while England had 71%.
On the 10th minute mark England were still dictating the pace of the match although the Scandinavians were proving a hard nut to crack as ball possession saw Sweden gain four percent to stay at 33%, just as England looked batter at 67%.
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As the match progressed the Swedish team appeared to be growing more confidence in their play.
On the 19th minute Sweden’s Ludwig Augustinsson tried to pick out a team-mate in England’s vital area but his cross was blocked by John Stones as he cleared the lines for the Three Lions’.
On the other end, Raheem Sterling tried making things happen for England, but Andreas Granqvist’s clearance for Sweden on the 20th minute.
After 25 minutes of football, England still top the ball possession ratings with Sweden’s 42% playing second fiddle to England’s 58% but the scores remained 0-0.
However, on the 30th minute Ashley Young swung in a corner from the left side which Harry Maguire nodded in for England’s first goal on the night.
After the opening goal, both sides tried to cancel out each other with the likes of Ludwig Augustinsson and Robin Olsen creating tense moments for the English side with crosses into the box, the Three Lions also had great moment to increase the tally especially in the closing moments of the first half.
Raheem Sterling on the other hand, created numerous goal opportunities in the opponents’ vital area and had a goal-bound shot defended by Olsen before the referee signaled the first half with scorers at 1-0 in England’s favour going into the break.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously had reported that England beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties to seal quarterfinal ticket.
The regulation time ended 1-1, and England would have themselves to blame to have allowed Colombia to force them into an extra time.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane scored the first goal for England in the 57th minute via a penalty after he was pushed by Carlos Sanchez.
He stepped up to convert the kick. England were on the verge of winning the tie before Yerry Mina restored parity for Colombia via an header at the death to force the match into penalties. Carlos Bacca missed the last penalty for Colombia while Eric Dier scored to send England into the last 8 where they will meet Sweden staging in Russia after beating Brazil 2-1 at the Kazan Arena.
An own goal from Manchester City's Fernandinho gave the Red Devils the lead in the 13th minute before his fellow club teammate, Kevin De Bruyne fired a thunderous shot to the left corner of Alisson's goal post to keep them two goals up in the first half.
Not even Douglas Costa goal on the 73rd minute acould save the South Americans from going down 1-2 to the Belgians.
Football Memes from the 2018 FIFA World Cup | Naij.com TV
Source: Naija.ng