Euro 2020: Denmark’s Christian Eriksen Collapses During Match
FULL TIME
A headed goal for each side, and a point for each team, too. Breel Embolo and Kieffer Moore score on second-half set pieces, and Wales and Switzerland both will leave Baku with something.
Well, Wales won’t leave: They will play Turkey in the same stadium on Wednesday. Switzerland will feel a bit worse about the draw: They had the lead, and they now head to Rome to face Italy in midweek.
That will be a much tougher task.
85’
Goal! Goal? Nope. Mario Gavranovic, on the field for a minute after replacing Seferovic, scores on a header with his first touch.
But replays show almost immediately that he was offside when he broke for the ball, and V.A.R. quickly rules the goal out. The game remains tied, and the clock keeps ticking.
74’
Goal! Moore ties it up in the simplest way possible: a corner worked quickly to the tallest man on the field, cutting toward the goal. Moore’s run and his header, which caught the Swiss defense flat-footed, may have saved the day for Wales.
1-1!
WALES ARE BACK IN IT! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/5eAMKZco8t
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 12, 2021
A disappointing turn of events for the Swiss, who fell asleep just when they needed to bear down and defend their lead.
If there was one player to track on a set piece, it was Moore ……. and yet.
50’
Deserved goal for Embolo, the 24-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach striker who has done some hard work inside — including creating the corner that led to the goal — and watched Seferovic miss on his team’s best chances.
49’
Goal! There’s your opener. Breel Embolo scores it, outmuscling Roberts to rise in the air and turn in a corner from Shaqiri.
HALFTIME
Tweeeeeet! There’s a scoreless halftime in the books, same as last night. Switzerland had 11 shots and Wales only 2.
Maybe the next 45 will offer more.
40’
Baku was one of the rare cities that planned to allow larger-than-usual crowds for Euro 2020: It said the stadium would be open to 50 percent capacity. At the Baku Olympic Stadium — an aspirational label, since Azerbaijan has never hosted the Games — that would be about 35,000 people.
But there appears to be a fraction of that number inside today.
The and the problem is surely travel rules, not tickets. Moving around Europe is easy if you’re a UEFA bigwig flying by private jet. For the average fan, facing testing and quarantines, it’s quite a bit harder.
And today, it least, it looks like most people just stayed home.
20’
Moore has cut his forehead in an aerial collision with Switzerland’s Kevin Mbabu, but after a trip to the sideline and a few yards of red head-wrap, he’s back looking to get his noggin back in the mix for headers.
10’
After some early pressure from Wales, the field has tilted the other way. The Swiss are sweeping forward well with their outside backs, and Shaqiri keeps popping up in a new spot every few minutes. But Wales is dropping well, and Switzerland is struggling to turn its wide play into real chances as the middle gets cluttered.
1’
Both teams took a knee before kickoff. That’s going to be a talking point all tournament, since not everyone is on board with the gesture.
Pregame
Gareth Bale starts for Wales but the notable choices in Coach Rob Page’s team are four at the back — Wales has played with three center backs recently, though seems more comfortable in a 4-2-3-1 formation — and that the 6-foot-5 Cardiff City striker Kieffer Moore starts up top.
Expect Moore to act as the target and holdup man while Bale, Daniel James and Aaron Ramsey swirl around him looking to make trouble.
Wales was the surprise team of Euro 2016, and it (and Switzerland) will sense an opening after watching Turkey get pounded on Friday.
Switzerland counters with three at the back. They’ll be busy. But this is also an experienced team, and Xherdan Shaqiri is capable of doing memorable things — and even political things — at any time.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/12/sports/euro-2020-live-scores/