Germany made it three wins from three in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 group stage, beating Finland 3-0 in front of over 20,000 fans in Milton Keynes. Sophia Kleinherne put Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side ahead at half time, with goals from Alexandra Popp and Nicole Anyomi adding to the scoreline after the break.
Kleinherne and Lena Lattwein replaced the suspended Felicitas Rauch and Lena Oberdorf in the starting line-up, but there were also two other changes with Germany already safely into the quarter-finals, as Sara Doorsoun and Linda Dallmann came in for Kathrin Hendrich and Lina Magull.
There were just 31 seconds on the clock when Popp had the first chance of the game with a header, and Germany continued to pile on the pressure after that. Finland struggled to get out of their half and looked to simply crowd the favourites out, leading to lots of blocked half-chances. There was a bit more space for Sara Däbritz to shoot in the sixth minute, but her effort was always rising.
Popp and Hegering combine to come close
You sensed it was only a matter of time until the opening goal arrived, but despite dominating possession, Germany failed to take advantage of a number of promising positions. When a gap did appear in the Finnish blockade, precision was lacking – just like with Giulia Gwinn’s shot in the 24th minute.
Finland had a clear plan when they did win the ball back, playing long balls forward to try and catch Germany out, but it wasn’t an approach that bore fruit. At the other end, Popp had the first clear-cut chance of the match, but was unable to steer her effort on target from close range (27’). Marina Hegering then tried her luck from distance, and with a little nudge from the head of Popp, the ball zipped inches wide of the goal (28’).
Kleinherne breaks the deadlock, Popp gets another
Shortly before the interval, Germany finally found a way through. Gwinn took the ball from Linda Dallmann, dribbled to the byline and lifted a cross into the six-yard box where an unmarked Kleinherne had the simple task of heading the ball home for her first DFB-Frauen goal (40’).
Voss-Tecklenburg made two changes at the break, replacing Gwinn and Hegering with Anyomi and Hendrich. The Bayern defender was straight into the action too, delivering a cross for Popp to power home with a classic downwards header and make it 2-0 with her third goal of the tournament (48’). Germany were attacking with more force now, and Finland had less resilience. Svenja Huth’s neat run deserved more from the finish, but the ball ricocheted behind for a corner-kick (59’).
Anyomi with another maiden goal
Germany’s third wasn’t far behind, however, and it too involved a substitute. Anyomi collected a loose ball on the edge of the box and drilled a low shot past the goalkeeper to mark her first goal for the national team (63’). It was followed by a double change with Tabea Waßmuth and Jule Brand once again introduced in attack (64’).
Laura Freigang then joined the action in the 76th minute replacing Dallmann, meaning all of Germany’s outfield players have now featured at the tournament. She could have grabbed a maiden goal of her own too, but was unable to make the most of Popp’s good legwork (86’) as the game finished 3-0.
The DFB-Frauen can now turn their full attention to Thursday night’s quarter-final against Group A runners-up Austria, with kick-off in Brentford at 21:00 CEST.
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Germany made it three wins from three in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 group stage, beating Finland 3-0 in front of over 20,000 fans in Milton Keynes. Sophia Kleinherne put Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side ahead at half time, with goals from Alexandra Popp and Nicole Anyomi adding to the scoreline after the break.
Kleinherne and Lena Lattwein replaced the suspended Felicitas Rauch and Lena Oberdorf in the starting line-up, but there were also two other changes with Germany already safely into the quarter-finals, as Sara Doorsoun and Linda Dallmann came in for Kathrin Hendrich and Lina Magull.
There were just 31 seconds on the clock when Popp had the first chance of the game with a header, and Germany continued to pile on the pressure after that. Finland struggled to get out of their half and looked to simply crowd the favourites out, leading to lots of blocked half-chances. There was a bit more space for Sara Däbritz to shoot in the sixth minute, but her effort was always rising.
Popp and Hegering combine to come close
You sensed it was only a matter of time until the opening goal arrived, but despite dominating possession, Germany failed to take advantage of a number of promising positions. When a gap did appear in the Finnish blockade, precision was lacking – just like with Giulia Gwinn’s shot in the 24th minute.
Finland had a clear plan when they did win the ball back, playing long balls forward to try and catch Germany out, but it wasn’t an approach that bore fruit. At the other end, Popp had the first clear-cut chance of the match, but was unable to steer her effort on target from close range (27’). Marina Hegering then tried her luck from distance, and with a little nudge from the head of Popp, the ball zipped inches wide of the goal (28’).
Kleinherne breaks the deadlock, Popp gets another
Shortly before the interval, Germany finally found a way through. Gwinn took the ball from Linda Dallmann, dribbled to the byline and lifted a cross into the six-yard box where an unmarked Kleinherne had the simple task of heading the ball home for her first DFB-Frauen goal (40’).
Voss-Tecklenburg made two changes at the break, replacing Gwinn and Hegering with Anyomi and Hendrich. The Bayern defender was straight into the action too, delivering a cross for Popp to power home with a classic downwards header and make it 2-0 with her third goal of the tournament (48’). Germany were attacking with more force now, and Finland had less resilience. Svenja Huth’s neat run deserved more from the finish, but the ball ricocheted behind for a corner-kick (59’).
Anyomi with another maiden goal
Germany’s third wasn’t far behind, however, and it too involved a substitute. Anyomi collected a loose ball on the edge of the box and drilled a low shot past the goalkeeper to mark her first goal for the national team (63’). It was followed by a double change with Tabea Waßmuth and Jule Brand once again introduced in attack (64’).
Laura Freigang then joined the action in the 76th minute replacing Dallmann, meaning all of Germany’s outfield players have now featured at the tournament. She could have grabbed a maiden goal of her own too, but was unable to make the most of Popp’s good legwork (86’) as the game finished 3-0.
The DFB-Frauen can now turn their full attention to Thursday night’s quarter-final against Group A runners-up Austria, with kick-off in Brentford at 21:00 CEST.
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