GOALDEN GIRL JODIE RELISHES SEMI-FINAL
TAYLOR ON TARGET AGAIN AS ENGLAND SEE OFF FRANCE IN TENSE CLASH
England’s goalscoring hero Jodie Taylor is relishing the prospect of taking on tournament hosts Holland for a place in the Women’s Euro 2017 final after seeing off France.
Taylor slid the ball past France goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi in the 60th minute for her fifth goal of the tournament to put England through as 1-0 victors from their quarter-final.
It was a result which ended a winless run over France which stretched back to 1974, when England defeated Les Bleues 2-0 in a friendly in Wimbledon.
Taylor said: “From the beginning we all said we would love to play Holland in this tournament. It is almost like deja-vu of the World Cup when we faced Canada, 50,000 Canadian fans, and we just relished it, so I think it will be the same here, so bring it on.”
Taylor felt Bouhaddi would regret committing too soon to her shot, which the goalkeeper could not keep out.
“I think I was fortunate that she went down early, she got a hand to it. I’m just glad it went in,” Taylor said.
“As soon as Lucy (Bronze) ran through I thought she was going to slip it to me, and again from watching a lot of footage of the goalkeeper - she does go down. I didn’t hit it as cleanly as much as I would have liked to have, but like I said, I’m glad she went down early and only got a hand to it.
“I rely so much on my team-mates. It’s the service and quality of the team. I can’t put the ball in the back of the net if I don’t get the quality balls through, and again I had a chance today, Lucy hit a perfect ball through and I’m just lucky enough to be the one that finishes it.”
The result came hours after pre-tournament favourites Germany were knocked out by Denmark, suffering a shock 2-1 defeat that means they cannot land a seventh consecutive European title.
Taylor had the first sight at goal after five minutes when a Jordan Nobbs cross was only half-cleared by the France defence but the Arsenal forward could not keep her effort from ballooning over the crossbar.
Despite a bright start from Sampson’s side, France began to grow into the match with playmaker Camille Abily looking to exploit the spaces behind full-backs Lucy Bronze and Demi Stokes.
The Lyon midfielder created two chances in as many minutes, firstly when a sliderule pass found Kadidiatou Diani behind the Lionesses defence and the recovering Jade Moore dispossessed the left winger as she was about to strike at goal. Then Marie-Laure Delie latched on to another through-ball from the 32-year-old but dragged her effort wide.
Both sides struggled to make full use of the ball, and England suffered a blow when Jill Scott picked up the yellow card which rules her out of the last-four clash with Holland for a late challenge on Amandine Henry.
The deadlock was finally broken on the hour mark and it sparked an immediate response from France.
Laura Georges, Henry, substitute Claire Lavogez and Clarisse Le Bihan all spurned great chances as England held on to reach the final four.