UEFA Euro 2020: England, Austria, Netherlands among winners on Matchday 3

The UEFA Euro 2020 is producing some top matches right from the start. As it entered Matchday 3, all the three games resulted, with England, Austria and Netherlands being the winners.

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Europe, First Published Jun 14, 2021, 12:45 PM IST | Last Updated Jun 14, 2021, 12:45 PM IST

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The 2020 UEFA Euro has already gripped Europe in football fever, with top matches being produced each day. As Matchday 3 came to an end, it saw results in all the three games played while we present the roundup from it.

England edges past Croatia
Being played at the Wimbley Stadium in London, England put the home advantage to use. While the 2018 FIFA World Cup runner-up was all over the host in the first half, it was Raheem Sterling's hard-fought sole strike in the 57th minute following an assist from Kalvin Phillips that handed the Three Lions its opening win.

Stats
- It was England first win in the opening game of the Euro.
- Since 1992, it was the first time that England did not have a player from either Liverpool or Manchester United in a Euro game's starting XI.
- Tyrone Mings became the first Villa player since 1996 to start for England in the Euro.
- In the last 17 games for England, Sterling has been involved in 19 goals, while England has won all 11 games with him scoring.
- Jude Bellingham (17 years and 349 days) has become the youngest player to play in the Euro.
Sterling has played the most games for England at Wimbley without losing (23).

Austria dominates North Macedonia
In the second game of Matchday 3, Austria comfortably outplayed North Macedonia 3-1 at the Arena Naţională in Bucharest. Austria began the proceedings with Stefan Lainer scoring the opener in the 18th minute, while Goran Pandev levelled it ten minutes later, as the deadlock stayed at half-time. However, Michael Gregoritsch's 78th-minute strike, followed by Marko Arnautovic's winner in the 89th, sealed a comfortable win for Austria.

Stat: Pandev is the second oldest scorer in Euro, at 37 years, after Ivica Vastic of Austria (38 years).

The Netherlands pips Ukraine in a hard-fought encounter
In what turned out to be an unexpected tricky clash, Netherlands managed to pip past Ukraine 3-2 at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam. Interestingly, it all happened in the second half after the opening half ended goallessly.

Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring for the Netherlands in the 52nd minute, followed by Wout Weghorst six minutes later. Nevertheless, Ukraine bounced back, with Andriy Yarmolenko's 75th-minute strike, while Roman Yaremchuk followed it up four minutes later. Anyway, Denzel Dumfries scored the winner in the 85th minute.

Stats
- Maarten Stekelenburg became the oldest goalkeeper (38 years) to play for the Netherlands in Euro/World Cup, going past Edwin van der Sar (37 years).
- It was the first Euro game to witness five goals in the second half after the opening half ending goalless.

 
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