Roundup: England exorcizes penalty demons to top Colombia

Jordan Pickford saved Colombia’s fifth penalty kick and Eric Dier buried the clincher, exorcizing the Three Lions’ shootout demons and lifting them over Colombia on Tuesday in Moscow and into the World Cup quarterfinals.

The teams were tied at 1 entering the shootout and England’s fortunes looked grim when Colombian keeper David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson’s attempt to give Columbia a 3-2 edge with two penalties remaining for each team. But Mateus Uribe missed off the crossbar, Kieran Trippier buried England’s fourth attempt in the top corner and Pickford stabbed away Carlos Bacca’s shot with a strong left hand. That set the stage for Dier, who slotted the ball in the bottom left corner past Ospina, sending England into chaotic celebration.

It was the country’s first-ever shootout win in the World Cup after exits via the spot in 1990, 1998 and 2006. England was also eliminated from the European Championships on penalties in 1996, 2004 and 2012. The ugly history prompted manager Gareth Southgate to drill shootouts extensively leading up to the tournament, an approach that paid dividends Tuesday.

England appeared set to avoid penalties and notch a 1-0 victory until Colombia delivered a stunning equalizer in stoppage time. Centerback Yerry Mina nodded home a 93rd-minute corner kick, his third tally of the tournament, all via headers. The goal — which wound up in the net after hitting the ground, Trippier’s head and the crossbar — sent the game to extra time.

Colombia had the best chance in the first half of extra time, but Radamel Falcao nodded a curling cross from Johan Mojica wide left in the 104th minute.

England threatened in the 112th minute, when Danny Rose’s shallow-angle shot from the left side got past Ospina but curled just wide of the far post. Three minutes later, Dier skied a clean header over the bar off a corner-kick cross from Trippier.

England’s Harry Kane opened the scoring after drawing a penalty in the 54th minute, as Carlos Sanchez tackled him in the box during a corner kick. Three minutes later, after a spate of arguing and a pair of yellow cards, the English captain slotted it down the middle as Ospina dove right. Kane later opened England’s penalty attempts, smacking his shot into the bottom left corner.

With the win, England advances to play Sweden on Saturday in the quarterfinals, after Sweden beat Switzerland earlier Tuesday.

Colombian star James Rodriguez — who won the Golden Boot with six goals at the 2014 World Cup — was unable to play after leaving the team’s final group-stage match with a right calf injury.

Sweden 1, Switzerland 0

A deflected shot by Emil Forsberg and furious defending in the final minutes lifted Sweden to a victory over Switzerland at St. Petersburg.

In the 66th minute, Forsberg fired in a shot off a pass from Ova Toivonen that glanced off a defender’s foot and into the top left corner.

It’s the first time Sweden has reached the quarterfinals since 1994. Switzerland has not won a knockout game in the World Cup since 1954.

The Swiss dominated time of possession (67 percent) and took six more shots (18-12) than Sweden, but were never able to connect. They were playing without captain Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar, both serving one-game suspensions.

Michael Lang, who replaced Lichsteiner in the lineup, was shown a red card four minutes into stoppage time as Switzerland tried to draw even. A video review of the play denied Sweden a penalty kick on the play.

Sweden will play England in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

–Field Level Media