England reach Euro 2025 semi finals: Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton shine, but will Leah Williamson miss Italy game? | Football News

Kelly sparks life into England’s attack

Every time Chloe Kelly steps onto a football pitch at the moment, she lights it up. Since her loan move to Arsenal in January – one that has now become permanent – she has rediscovered her joy for football and was instrumental in the Gunners’ success.

She has been doing the same in Switzerland too. Kelly took up the left wing when she came on in the 78th minute, giving Sweden a new conundrum that took them a while to figure out – enough time for England to level up the game and the forward having a hand in both goals spaced three minutes apart.

“I didn’t feel under pressure,” she told BBC Sport. “I just wanted to go and create some goals for the girls and be at my best. I just tried to put the ball in the box and play to my strengths.”

At the moment, she is one of England’s best impact subs – but should she be starting? Lauren Hemp, also superb on her day, has struggled to have an impact in some games. Lauren James at times too.

After her match-winning turn, Sarina Wiegman must surely be weighing up whether Kelly has earned herself a place from the start against Italy.

Hampton showing her quality

It could not have been easy for Hannah Hampton heading into her first major tournament as England’s first-choice goalkeeper, such was the furore surrounding Mary Earps’ retirement.

But the Chelsea goalkeeper has more than proved her worth. Hampton made some great saves against Sweden, where the scoreline could have got away from the Lionesses.

Then she saved two penalties in her first tournament shootout – no easy feat.

And away from any recency bias, her kicks have also set England up for goals, especially the opener against the Netherlands.

Throughout the Euros, she has looked confident and assured, especially when those ahead of her have not. Hampton is more than justifying Wiegman’s choice to make her the No1.

Will Williamson be fit?

It’s unusual to see Leah Williamson come off during an important game for England, but after picking up a knock against Sweden, she was replaced by Niamh Charles for the final 15 minutes of extra time.

She sat on the bench with her ankle strapped up with ice to watch the nerve-jangling conclusion, something she described as ‘awful’.

Wiegman confirmed Williamson had rolled her ankle and would be assessed on Friday, but with five days to prepare for the semi-final against Italy, there will be hope she will be OK.

Losing your starting centre-back and captain would be a blow. But in a Lionesses back line that has been easily breached on too many occasions, Williamson has been the most consistent defender so far.

This was epitomised against Sweden when she made a last-ditch tackle to stop her Arsenal team-mate Stina Blackstenius, minutes after they had taken the lead.

If Williamson was to miss out, there are options on the bench. Niamh Charles did well when she came on on Thursday, while Man Utd captain Maya Le Tissier can play either in the middle or on the right. Esme Morgan could also deputise.

Agyemang is England’s new super sub

Three caps, two goals. International careers don’t start off much better than that and Michelle Agyemang is proving her worth to this England squad.

There were perhaps some raised eyebrows when a largely untested 19-year-old was included among the 23 players. She brings something different was the phrase touted by England – and they are right.

Agyemang is an unknown at international level. For example, Keira Walsh is now regularly double-marked because teams have figured out how her string-pulling play helps England tick.

But the Arsenal striker confuses defences, finding those spaces with her movement and not needing more than a few touches to find the net. She should also have scored against France too.

Her sensational goal against Belgium announced her to the world, and she continues to add to her pedigree with every appearance. It is quite the rise from a ball girl in Wiegman’s first England game to now scoring important goals at a major tournament.

While she is unlikely to oust Alessia Russo as starting No 9, she is without doubt England’s new super sub, just as her Arsenal team-mate was three years ago. Long may her impressive debut continue.

But could those substitutes come earlier?

After an abject first half against Sweden, there was a clamour for Wiegman to make changes at half-time.

But true to form, the Lionesses boss did not make any subs for the second half. She didn’t against France either. Wiegman went for the ‘you got us into this mess, you get us out of it’ approach.

While that philosophy did not work out in the opening group game, against Sweden, it did. But the argument remains the same – could the game have been won earlier if Wiegman had bought on new players earlier?

In the final 10 minutes against France, the Lionesses were close to a draw after Walsh’s goal. Grace Clinton and Agyemang had a huge impact and had they come on even sooner, put more pressure on their opponents, an equaliser might have followed.

The same can be said against Sweden. Kelly wasn’t introduced until the 78th minute, assisting Lucy Bronze a minute later. With the issues she was causing Sweden’s defence, could England have wrapped things up in 90 minutes with the momentum in their favour?

Of course, we will never know if that would be the case, but England were dangerously close to an exit and for 70 minutes.

Interestingly at Euro 2022, Wiegman was fairly predictable. She almost always made changes around the hour mark, and usually the same players. Although effective, that is a hard policy to maintain, but making more subs earlier is something Wiegman should consider for the remainder of the tournament.