Holders beat Portugal 3-2 to move one step closer to tournament\u2019s quarter-finals
\n LONDON:
\nHolders the Netherlands held off a stirring fightback by Portugal to close in on a place in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals with a 3-2 win over Portugal, while Sweden struck late to beat Switzerland 2-1 on Wednesday.
\nThe Dutch were without star striker Vivianne Miedema due to a positive case for coronavirus, but got off to a flying start in Leigh as Damaris Egurrola and Stefanie van der Gragt struck inside the first 16 minutes.
\nPortugal would not even be at the tournament had it not been for Russia\u2019s explusion due to the invasion of Ukraine, but for the second time in as many games they bounced back from a 2-0 deficit.
\nCarole Costa\u2019s penalty reduced the arrears before half-time and Diana Silva\u2019s thumping header levelled two minutes into the second half.
\nThe Netherlands thought they had immediately struck back when Jill Roord\u2019s goal was ruled out by a VAR check for offside.
\nBut Mark Parsons\u2019 side did dig themselves out of trouble just after the hour mark when Danielle Van de Donk\u2019s stunning strike from outside the box arrowed into the top corner.
\nVictory takes the Netherlands top of Group C, level on four points with the Swedes, with both sides just needing a point from their final group game to progress.
\nRanked second in the world, Sweden were among the pre-tournament favourites but have so far struggled to hit top gear in England.
\nAfter a 1-1 draw to open their campaign against the Netherlands, the Olympic silver medallists were expected to roll over a Swiss side ranked 20th in the world.
\nSwitzerland\u2019s preparations had also been rocked by a sickness bug in the camp that forced them to cancel training on Monday.
\nBut they frustrated Peter Gerhardsson\u2019s women for 53 minutes at Bramall Lane before Barcelona\u2019s Fridolina Rolfo finished off an excellent team move.
\nSwitzerland hit back within two minutes through a fine finish by Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Ramona Bachmann.
\nGerhardsson 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.
\n\u201cThere are many things we can do better but right now I\u2019m just very happy that we won the match and are in a good position to take us beyond the group stage,\u201d said Gerhardsson.
\nSwitzerland 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Holders beat Portugal 3-2 to move one step closer to tournament\u2019s quarter-finals LONDON: Holders the Netherlands held off a stirring fightback by Portugal to close in on a place in the Euro 2022 quarter-finals with a 3-2 win over Portugal, while Sweden struck late to beat Switzerland 2-1 on Wednesday. The Dutch were without star […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-271340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n