Our 3️⃣ points as extra time penalty puts France into Euro 2022 semi-final | OneFootball

France needed extra time to beat Netherlands 1-0 and book their place in the Euro 2022 semi-finals.

Some terrible finishing in 90 minutes put Les Bleus on edge but an Ève Pérriset penalty was enough to see them face Germany in the final four.

End of the weg

France are out last semi-finals and it’s difficult to argue against them taking their place in the last four here.

It was a pretty comprehensive 1-0 hammering against a Netherlands side who didn’t turn up.

Vivianne Miedema was the headline before kick off with the Arsenal striker back in the side after her positive Covid test earlier in the tournament.

But she barely had a touch of the ball with the Oranje struggling to string two passes together and lumping ball forward in hope when they did.

It was a disappointing end to a pretty timid defence of their title from the Dutch, who never really looked like troubling the major nations in this competition.

Sacre Bleu

Sometimes the facts just speak for themselves.

France had 33 shots to the Netherlands nine.

Les Bleus had 13 of those on target with the Dutch getting just one.

And Corinne Diacre’s side had an expected goals of 2.01 compared to the Oranje’s 0.19.

This was about as clear a battering as you can imagine in the quarter-final of a major tournament.

And yet, France were almost made to pay for their profligacy with some of the worst finishing you’ll see.

Pretty much every forward player in the France side missed what could be described as a gilt-edged chance with Melvine Malard, Delphine Cascarino and Selma Bacha all struggling to find the back of the net when it looked easier to score.

The worst culprit though, was Grace Geyoro, whose header in the dying seconds from a yard out somehow went wide of the post.

Thankfully it didn’t matter in the end but France will need to drastically improve in front of goal if they are to progress to the final.

The fantastic four

And so we have our final four for this year’s European Championships.

It’s been a remarkable tournament so far with an enormous amount of quality on show but you really can’t argue with the four sides we have left here.

On Tuesday hosts England – who have won in all manner of ways so far – will take on a Sweden, a team moulded in the FA Women’s Super League.

It’s going to be a fascinating encounter with Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane at a near sell out.

Wednesday meanwhile will see tonight’s winners, France, face probably the best team in the competition so far, Germany.

Old rivals reconvening for a new prize.

It promises to be quite the couple of evenings.