Euro 2020 data dive: Sterling win streak continues, Netherlands-Ukraine make history in five-goal thriller

By Sports Desk June 13, 2021

The Netherlands edged a 3-2 thriller with Ukraine in the pick of the Euro 2020 matches to date, while England and Austria also got off the mark in their opening group games on Sunday.

Denzel Dumfries was the late hero for the Oranje with his first international goal to sink Ukraine, who had battled back from two goals down in Amsterdam to temporarily level things.

Austria also left it late to see off minnows North Macedonia 3-1 in Bucharest earlier in the day and England beat Croatia 1-0 at Wembley through a well-taken Raheem Sterling strike.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform looks at some of the best facts from across Sunday's entertaining action at Euro 2020.

England 1-0 Croatia: Three Lions make winning start at Wembley

Sterling's first goal at a major international tournament in his 13th appearance was enough for England to overcome Croatia in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final.

Croatia offered very little in response as England made it 11 straight victories in games in which Sterling has scored – the best-such win rate of any player in the nation's history.

The Three Lions are now unbeaten in 12 games at Wembley in major tournaments (exluding penalty shoot-outs), winning eight and drawing four of those matches.

The victory for Gareth Southgate's side in their Group D opener was their seventh in a row in all competitions – their best such run since March 2015 under Roy Hodgson.

It was also the first time England have won their opening game at a European Championship finals in their 10th participation in the tournament.

That is in contrast to Croatia, who lost their first match in the competition for the first time, having won four and drawn one of the previous five.

The contest was also a special occasion for England substitute Jude Bellingham, who at 17 years and 349 days became the youngest ever player to feature at the Euros.

Austria 3-1 North Macedonia: Substitutes strike late to deny tournament debutants

North Macedonia's first ever game at a major tournament ended with a late defeat to Austria in Bucharest.

Aged 37 years and 321 days, 120-cap Goran Pandev became the second-oldest goalscorer in the competition when cancelling out Stefan Lainer's opener.

That was just Lainer's second goal for Austria, with his only other international strike coming against North Macedonia in qualifying.

Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic were introduced to snatch the three points for Austria – their first ever win at the European Championships in what was their seventh game.

In doing so, Gregoritsch and Arnautovic became the first pair to score from the bench for the same country in the competition since Michy Batshuayi and Yannick Carrasco for Belgium (v Hungary) in 2016.

Arnautovic's goal to make certain of the win was his 27th for Austria at senior level, with three of those coming against North Macedonia – more than he has managed against any other country.

Netherlands 3-2 Ukraine: Oranje leave it late to edge thriller

The Netherlands ended a run of four straight defeats at the European Championship with a dramatic victory against Ukraine in Amsterdam.

All five goals were scored in the second half, making it the highest-scoring fixture in the competition's history after a goalless first half.

The first half may have ended scoreless, but the tempo was set early on as there were nine shots in the opening 10 minutes – a tournament record since Opta started recording such data in 1980.

Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with his 15th goal in 26 appearances for Oranje, having scored only eight times in his first 50 games for his national side.

Wout Weghorst added a second soon after, but Andriy Yarmolenko pulled one back with a sublime strike to end a run of 72 shots without a goal for Ukraine at the Euros.

From the visitors' very next attempt, Roman Yaremchuk headed in an equaliser to seemingly steal a point at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

But Dumfries found the back of the net in the 85th minute, making it the latest game-winning goal for the Netherlands at the Euros since current boss Frank de Boer scored an 89th-minute penalty against Czech Republic at Euro 2000.

Related items

  • Eddie Howe hoping FA does not ‘throw the book’ at suspended Sandro Tonali Eddie Howe hoping FA does not ‘throw the book’ at suspended Sandro Tonali

    Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has urged the Football Association not to “throw the book” at midfielder Sandro Tonali after charging him with further betting offences.

    The 23-year-old, who is currently serving a 10-month worldwide ban imposed by the Italian Football Federation in October after he admitted breaking gambling rules, is alleged to have breached FA rule E8 50 times by betting on matches between August 12 and October 12 last year.

    However, Howe, who has been without his £55million summer signing from AC Milan since October, is hoping English football’s governing body will not impose further stringent punishment on a player whose agent, Giuseppe Riso, has insisted is battling a “gambling addiction”.

    Howe said: “The news that there was an FA charge, that illness didn’t stop when he moved from Italy to England, that illness was there and people should look at it that way, not ‘let’s throw the book at him and let’s punish him even further’ because I don’t think that gets to the root of the problem.

    “We need to protect all our players because this is something that’s open to everybody and becoming a bigger problem in society, so this isn’t just a problem for Sandro.”

    Asked if he was worried Tonali, who has until April 5 to respond, could be handed a consecutive ban to run after the existing penalty has come to an end, Howe added: “We don’t know, is the honest answer. I certainly hope for Sandro that there are no further consequences.

    “He has suffered during this period, he has sought help, he’s been very honest, he has admitted he has an issue, and I think the best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career having taken his punishment and having learned a lot of lessons from this.”

    Tonali’s initial 18-month suspension was reduced by eight months on condition that he underwent treatment for his addiction and made 16 public appearances in Italy to talk to young players about the dangers of gambling.

    He is currently allowed to train with Newcastle, who face West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday, but cannot play again until the end of August.

    Asked how Tonali is dealing with the situation, Howe said: “He is seeking help on a regular basis. This is something that won’t go away for him, so he has regular meetings in Italy and in England to deal with the problems that he has.

    “But I have to say mentally, he’s been very good in his training sessions, he’s been very good off the pitch. He’s been a brilliant team-mate to the people here and supporting team-mates and training really well to set a positive example.

    “His English has improved a lot as well, which has been great. He can communicate now really well with his team-mates, which is such an important thing.

    “I’m really positive about his comeback, whenever that is, that he’ll have a huge impact on the team.”

  • Uli Hoeness says ‘probably impossible’ to lure Xabi Alonso from Bayer in summer Uli Hoeness says ‘probably impossible’ to lure Xabi Alonso from Bayer in summer

    Reported Liverpool managerial target Xabi Alonso is unlikely to jump ship from Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, according to Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness.

    The 42-year-old, who lifted the Champions League trophy in 2005 during his debut season with the Reds, has been a widely touted as a likely replacement for Jurgen Klopp, who in January announced he will stand down at the end of the season after eight-and-a-half decorated years at Anfield.

    Bayern are thought to be one of the other clubs courting the Spaniard’s services, but Hoeness was highly pessimistic about anyone’s chances of luring Alonso away from Leverkusen.

    He told Das Erste: “We’ll have to see if we can do it this year.

    “It will be difficult, if not probably impossible. (Alonso) is more inclined to stay at Bayer Leverkusen in view of their current successes, because he would not want to leave them behind.

    “Let’s say if he had two or three more years of success, it would probably be easier to bring him out of there.”

    Alonso’s men are on course to secure the first Bundesliga title in the club’s history, sitting 10 points clear of Bayern Munich in second.

    In February, their 2-1 victory over Mainz to make it 33 games unbeaten broke the German record for consecutive competitive matches without a loss,  surpassing Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich team of 2020 and 2021.

    They have since extended that run to 38 fixtures, most recently with a 3-2 victory over Freiburg before the international break.

  • Willie Kirk sacked as Leicester boss after position became ‘untenable’ Willie Kirk sacked as Leicester boss after position became ‘untenable’

    Leicester have sacked women’s first-team boss Willie Kirk after the club determined the Scot had “breached the team’s code of conduct to a degree that makes his position untenable”.

    The 45-year-old last took charge of the Foxes when they lost 4-0 in the Women’s Super League to Chelsea on March 3, before the club subsequently announced that Kirk was “assisting the club with an internal process”  and would not be on the touchline for their March 9 FA Cup quarter-final.

    Kirk’s then-assistant Jennifer Foster, supported by first team coach Stephen Kirby, oversaw that 2-0 victory and have remained at the helm since.

    They will remain in charge until Kirk’s permanent successor is named.

    A Leicester statement read: “Leicester City Football Club can confirm that Willie Kirk has been dismissed from his position as LCFC Women Manager.

    “Following an extensive internal disciplinary process and respecting the Club’s obligations to individual privacy, Willie was determined to have breached the team’s code of conduct to a degree that makes his position untenable.

    “Established and implemented ahead of the start of the current season, the code forms part of the Club’s ongoing commitment to professionalising the women’s game since the takeover of LCFC Women in 2020, promoting a performance-led culture among players, coaches and technical staff.

    “First Team responsibilities for LCFC Women will continue to be led by Jennifer Foster, supported by Stephen Kirby, while the Club begins the process of appointing a new permanent manager.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.