European Championships: Cristiana Girelli’s double, Norway beaten and Italy in semifinals
Italy returns to a women’s European Championship semifinal for the first time since 1997: in Geneva, Andrea Soncin’s girls, thanks to a Cristiana Girelli double, beat Norway 2-1.
Clamorous chance for the Azzurri at 8′: Giugliano retrieves the ball that reaches Caruso who dribbles half of Norway in the area but then touches to the side from the right. In the 19th minute Bonansea’s perfect cross from the left but Girelli at the moment of hitting a header is obstructed by… Severini and the ball ends up out.
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On 22′ Caruso filtered for Severini who in front of the goalkeeper but off-center had her shot deflected into a corner by Fiskerstrand. On 32′ Bonansea ends up on the ground in the area for a suspicious clash, ball to Di Guglielmo who puts it wide.
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On 36′ here comes Norway: cross from the right by Mjelde, Linari touches and deceives Giuliani but also Hegerberg who touches out. In the 43rd minute Caruso’s right-footer from outside the box, too central, parries Fiskerstrand. In the 45th minute Giuliani is completely out of position and Gaupset tries to surprise her from very far away but misses the target.
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In the second half, Italy deservedly took the lead in the 50th minute: a low, taut cross by Cantore from the right side on which Girelli put her left foot in and scored. Immediately afterwards again Girelli unsuccessfully claims a corner on one of her deflected headers. The Azzurri look like they could run rampant but Cantore’s double is disallowed for offside early in the action.
At 60′ the possible turning point: Frappart awards a penalty to Norway for a hold in the box by Linari on Hegerberg and it is the Norwegian captain herself who goes to the penalty spot but incredibly puts it wide to Giuliani’s left. From this moment the Azzurri stop playing for a good quarter of an hour.
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In the 66th minute on a long throw by Mjelde, Hegerberg ventures to anticipate Giuliani, who found herself in no man’s land, and puts in the unguarded goal.
But in the 90th minute Girelli struck again: Cantore’s cross, this time high and from the left for the captain’s close-range header that incinerated Fiskerstrand and brought Italy into a European semifinal after twenty-eight years: the Azzurri will meet the winner between Sweden and England.
