Bitter Scotland say ‘it’s diving home’ after ‘dodgy penalty’ secures England win
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Not everyone was celebrating England’s historic night over Denmark last night, with a Scottish newspaper using the occasion to take aim at their rivals.
Harry Kane’s rebound from his saved penalty in extra-time gave England a dramatic 2-1 win at Wembley on Wednesday night, sending them through to face Italy in Sunday’s final.
Kane’s goal capped a fine performance from Gareth Southgate’s side, which saw them come from behind for the first time in the tournament.
Mikkel Damsgaard fired Denmark ahead after 30 minutes with a stunning free-kick before the hosts hit back through Simon Kjaer’s own goal from Bukayo Saka’s dangerous cross.
Kasper Schmeichel put in a heroic performance in goal, keeping out Raheem Sterling’s shot and Harry Maguire’s header, but the night did not end happily for the Leicester goalkeeper.
Towards the end of the first period of extra-time the game got its controversial incident, with Sterling producing a burst of speed before going down in the penalty area.
Sterling claimed he was fouled by Denmark defender Joakim Maehle and referee Danny Makkelie agreed, pointing to the spot to give England a huge chance to win it.
VAR confirmed Makkelie’s decision and, although Schmeichel saved Kane’s initial attempt, the Spurs striker was on hand to tap home the rebound and send England into their first major final in 55 years.
What did you make of the decision to award England a penalty? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
England’s newspapers were in a predictably triumphant mood this morning, using headlines like ‘Finally There!’, ‘England Make History’ and ‘Kane You Believe It!’.
Scotland’s Metro took a very different route, however, deciding to focus on the awarding of the crucial penalty.
‘England Dive Into The Final’ read the front page of the freesheet, with a sub-heading of ‘Kane seals clash with Italy after dodgy penalty’.
It didn’t stop there, either, with the back page spread saying, ‘They Think It’s Fall Over…’ before a sub-heading added: ‘It is now as Sterling’s “dive” earns England crucial penalty’.
They were far from the only ones to highlight the controversial nature of the penalty decision, with Gary Neville labelling it “soft” on ITV while Roy Keane was typically angry at the awarding.
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Judging by the fact “Cheating” was soon trending on Twitter, plenty of fans felt the same, but Sterling was convinced the right decision was made.
"Yeah, I went into the box,” he explained to ITV. “He stuck his right leg out, it touched my leg. Clear penalty.”
Right decision or not, one thing is for sure: England will contest the final of Euro 2020 against Italy at Wembley Stadium at 8pm on Sunday.
- Gareth Southgate
- Gary Neville
- Harry Kane
- Raheem Sterling
- Euro 2020
- England Football Team
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