Lucy Bronze: 'Little things' make the difference as Lionesses come from behind to preserve Euros charge | OneFootball

The veteran full-back led England to a famous win

Lucy Bronze has revealed that her knowledge of the mechanics of a penalty shootout was key to England beating Sweden on Thursday night.

The veteran Chelsea full-back played a key role throughout the match as the Lionesses came from behind to force extra time and penalties in Zurich, scoring the first of England’s two goals in regular time before leathering home what proved to be the winning penalty in sudden death.

“You’re more likely to win if you go first,” she said afterwards. “Winning the coin toss played into that.

"Also I watched the goalkeeper in every single penalty and she dived quite early, and statistically in a penalty shootout, it's quite risky for the goalkeeper to stand still and go down the middle.

“Yeah, I love maths,” she chuckled. "I've been around long enough. I need to know the ins and outs of the game. All the little things can make a difference and for me it felt like it did tonight."

Just five of the 14 penalties were scored on the night. Bronze’s effort was the 13th, and England’s win was confirmed as Smilla Holmberg got under her effort and sent it over the crossbar.

Bronze’s effort, launched into the roof of the net with venom, clocked in at 102.51km/h, according to sensors inside the Adidas match ball, marking it as the third most powerful goal of the tournament so far.

But she revealed that she clocked that speed despite carrying an injury after she was seen applying fresh strapping to her right thigh during extra time.

She explained: "I actually hurt my leg a little bit in the game, which is why I had to take the tape off, so I kind of changed my mind. That's why I took it off because I thought I'm not sure if I'm going to hurt myself doing something different.”