England well beaten as hosts march into Euro final

England’s dreams of winning Euro 2017 were shattered by a 3-0 semi-final loss to host nation Netherlands in their semi-final in Enschede.

Goals either side of halftime by Arsenal pair Vivianne Miedema and Danielle van de Donk secured victory for the vibrant Dutch before a last-gasp own goal by Millie Bright compounded England’s misery.

England were punished for a slow start by Miedema and there proved no way back after a costly mistake by Fara Williams, their confident campaign ending in a huge anti-climax.

England were rarely in the contest. Netherlands took the early initiative, won most of the 50-50 challenges and got on to the front foot, although England initially did a good job of repelling them.

But midway through the first half as Jackie Groenen whipped in a dangerous cross and Miedema planted a firm header back across goal and inside the post.

Within momentsengland hit the woodwork when a powerful header from Jade Moore was blocked on the line by Sherida Spitse and deflected on to the post.

England made a positive start to the second half, tournament top scorer Jodie Taylor testing Sari van Veenendaal but Siobhan Chamberlain made a better save at the other end to deny Van de Sanden.

England were punished for a defensive horror show just after the hour as Williams attempted to head back towards her own goal when seemingly under little pressure. Steph Houghton was caught unawares and Van de Donk pounced, beating Chamberlain to the ball and deftly touching home.

Williams did not last much longer as Toni Duggan was sent on in the hope of rescuing the game but it was not to be.

Bright diverted the ball into her own net with the last kick of the game from a Renate Jansen shot.