England successfully defended their Women’s European Championship title, beating Spain 3-1 on penalties after the final ended in a 1-1 draw on Sunday evening. Coach Sarina Wiegman made just one change to the team that started against Italy in the semi-final, replacing centre-back Esme Morgan with Jess Carter.England began the game on the front foot as Alessia Russo’s effort was parried into the path of Lauren James, but the Chelsea forward lost her footing and could not latch onto the ball.Spain then forced goalkeeper Hannah Hampton into making her first save when Esther Gonzalez evaded the pressure from Carter to aim at goal.In the 19th minute, Lauren Hemp aimed a shot towards the near post, but goalkeeper Cata Coll saved her effort to prevent England from opening the scoring.Five minutes before the half-hour mark, Spain scored the opener through Mariona Caldentey’s header at the back post.England suffered an injury blow before halftime as James had to be taken off and was replaced by Chloe Kelly.The substitute quickly made a mark on the game, driving towards goal before firing a shot off the target, and that turned out to be the last chance created in the first half.Spain looked sharp after the restart, with Caldentey and Alexia Putellas coming close to doubling the world champions’ lead.England restored parity in the 57th minute when Kelly delivered a sublime ball for Russo to head it home.Kelly almost gave the defending champions the lead, but Coll made a brilliant save to deny her.Hampton also made a good save to thwart Claudia Pina’s effort from going into the net.Both sides could not find the winning goal, sending the game into extra time.La Roja looked the closest to getting the winner in the first half of extra time when Salma Paralluelo received a pass from Ona Batlle, but could not hit the target.The scoreline remained the same until the end of the second extra time, forcing the game into a penalty shootout.England won 3-1 on penalties, with Hampton making two saves during the shootouts while Kelly scored England’s last spot kick.
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