Sports

#WorldCup 2018: Croatia beat England 2-1 to reach final

Published

6 years ago

July 11, 2018

Croatia soared to World Cup final as it beat England 2 – 1 in their semi – final encounter in Russia on Wednesday .Croatia and England were locked at 1 – 1 at the end of normal time in their World Cup semi – final in Moscow on Wednesday .

Kieran Trippier gave England a dream start in the Luzhniki Stadium, curling in a free -kick past the despairing dive of Danijel Subasic in just the fifth minute .

But Ivan Perisic levelled for Croatia in the 68 th minute , nipping ahead of Kyle Walker to steer home Sime Vrsaljko ’ s cross past a diving Jordan Pickford .

A goal by Mario Mandzukic in the 109 th minute gave Croatia the edge .

Heartbreak for England as Croatia take the lead in the early stages of this second period of extra time . It is more tired defending from England , who are finally punished for their sloppy defender .

A poor clearance sends the ball looping into the air and it is nodded back hopefully into the box . Stones is caught sleeping for a second and that is enough for Mandzukic to get the wrong side of his man and sweep his finish past Pickford .