Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, on as a substitute for Harry Kane, scored a 91st minute winner to earn a 2-1 victory for England over Netherlands and set up a mouthwatering Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday.
The Three Lions had to come from behind yet again to reach a first ever tournament final outside of home soil as attacking midfielder Xavi Simons put the Dutch ahead with a brilliant individual effort in the 7th minute.
That lead lasted for 10 minutes only, though, as Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Kane in the area. The Bayern Munich striker picked himself up to score from the spot for his third goal at this Euros.
Dumfries then recovered from that setback to keep the scores level just five minutes later when he cleared a goal-bound Phil Foden effort off the line midway through the first half.
The Inter Milan player’s dramatic night continued as he saw a header crash off Jordan Pickford’s cross bar on the half-hour mark, while Foden responded just a minute later for England with a long range volley that cannoned off the Dutch bar as both sides went in search of a second goal.
Dutch manager Ronald Koeman was forced into making a sub 10 minutes before half time, with Memphis Depay coming off injured to be replaced by midfielder Joey Veerman.
The game remained keenly contested by the teams even if no major threats came until the 80th minute when Bukayo Saka latched on to a Kyle Walker ball in to score for England, only for the goal to ruled out as Walker was offside by the smallest margin.
And just when it seemed there would be extra-time, substitute Cole Palmer found Watkins in the area and the Villa striker instinctive movement saw his shot go through Stefan de Vrij’s leg and nestle in the Dutch goal.