England lost control but the bold decision to replace Phil Foden and Kane with Cole Palmer and Watkins paid off magnificently
Ollie Watkins struck at the death to send England to their second successive European Championship final as Gareth Southgate’s side dug deep to see off the Netherlands.
The eyes of the nation were fixed on Dortmund on Wednesday evening as the Euro 2020 runners-up looked to seal a shot at history in Sunday’s Berlin showpiece against favourites Spain.
Harry Kane’s spot-kick cancelled out a superb Xavi Simons opener before Watkins stepped off the bench and wrote his name into the history books by sealing a 2-1 triumph in the 90th minute.
No English men’s team has made it to a major final on foreign soil before and now they have the chance to become European champions for the first time this weekend.
Southgate’s side played their best football of the tournament during a breathless first half in which Kane scored a contentious penalty after Simons struck an early blow.
England lost control but the bold decision to replace Phil Foden and Kane with Cole Palmer and Watkins paid off magnificently, with the former feeding the latter to turn and strike the momentous winner.
Southgate only made change from the Swiss clash and saw an encouraging start undone before the mist from the pre-match pyrotechnics had fully lifted.
Declan Rice was uncharacteristically dispossessed in his own half and could only watch Simons continue to slam beyond Jordan Pickford from 20 yards in front of a rocking orange wall.
It was a seventh-minute gut punch that England reacted well to, with Bart Verbruggen having to get down well to stop a long-range Kane laser skipping past him.
The skipper tried his luck again after Bukayo Saka was blocked out and writhed in agony on the deck after striking over, clutching his right foot.
As Kane held his fluorescent boot VAR Bastian Dankert advised Felix Zwayer to review the pitchside monitor and the much-discussed referee controversially pointed to the spot.
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