Norway finished the group stage with 3 wins from 3 in the UEFA Women’s EURO’s, despite a late rally from Iceland, in a game that was anything but the ‘dead rubber’ it was predicted to be. With both teams favouring attacking football, this was one for the neutrals (it was played in Switzerland, after all).
Having already guaranteed top spot in Group A, head coach Gemma Grainger made 7 changes to Norway’s line-up, with mixed results. Despite not scoring a goal so far in the tournament, Iceland got the opening goal of the match after just 6 minutes, when Jónsdóttir followed-up a saved header, poking in from 4 yards. It didn’t take long for Norway to equalise, with the impressive Signe Gaupset volleying home a corner from 12 yards after 15 minutes. Gaupset, who only turned 20 last month, scored Norway’s 2nd goal too; turning away from her marker deep in the Iceland half, before firing a precise shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards. Norway have particular strength in depth for the wide positions, with: Graham Hansen (Barcelona), Reiten (Chelsea), and Bizet (Manchester United), all ahead of her for a starting spot. After such an impressive performance, the manager has an even more difficult choice to make for the upcoming quarter- final.
Having guaranteed last-place in UEFA Group A, Iceland approached this match with a greater attacking intent, regularly committing players forward. This did leave them exposed defensively at times, which Norway took advantage of. Just 4 minutes after the restart, Maanum approached the penalty area, switched play left to Gaupset, who delivered a perfect 1st-time return pass back to Maanum, who finished from 12 yards. Maanun extended the lead further, after she collected the ball on the edge of the area, Viggósdóttir failed to close her down, and Maanum had time to fire low into the bottom corner.
Iceland Thunder Back
With a 4-1 lead, and only 5 minutes of regulation time left to play, Norway were in complete control. Then, after a Norway corner was kicked long to Jónsdóttir on the halfway line, who was able to turn the covering defender, and charge into the Norway half. After dribbling past another defender at full pace, she played the ball left to the unmarked Eiríksdóttir, who finished low into the goal. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Eiríksdóttir was pulled back by Lund in the penalty area, trying to get on the end of a cross. After VAR sent the referee to the monitor, she adjudged that it was a penalty, and showed a 2nd yellow card to Lund, who will now miss the quarter-final. Viggósdóttir stepped up, and powerfully converted the penalty, despite the ‘keeper diving the right way. There was barely any time left, and Norway survived with 10 players, but Gemma Grainger will be seriously concerned how her team almost let a 3-goal lead slip in such a short space of time.
UEFA Group B – Final Standings
If you compare the combined ‘expected goals’ & ‘expected goals against’ of each team, you can see how closely fought all of the matches were. Statistically, Iceland and Finland were the most consistent, and balanced, teams, yet neither reached the knockouts. Despite winning the group, Norway didn’t keep a clean sheet, and will need significant improvement if they’re to advance to the semi-final.
Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference Points Norway (Q) 8 5 3 9 Switzerland (Q) 4 3 1 4 Finland 3 3 0 4 Iceland 3 7 -4 0
