Chloe Kelly brings magic and sheer chaos as England abandon all logic | OneFootball

Chloe Kelly walks up to the penalty spot as if she’s in her back garden. She stops. She waits. She picks the ball up and spins it back onto the spot, as if no one is watching and no one is waiting for the kick to keep England’s Euro defence alive. Kelly waits a little longer. Then she lifts up her right leg, skips a little, and effortlessly places the biggest penalty of her life into the corner. Confident? That doesn’t quite cut it. Did Kelly know that Sweden’s goalkeeper was up next, with the chance to knock England out and send Sweden through? Probably not. But given the way Kelly turned and roared at the England fans in Zurich, you wouldn’t put it past her.

Even when Jennifer Falk missed, there was a lot still to unfold in a remarkable, mind-twisting shootout in Zurich, but the player who needed to take the penalty to keep England in the Euros turned out to be the right one. It could only be the right one. Up fifth, Kelly had twice won a penalty shoot-out for England. Here, this was her moment to save them, just as Kelly had already done, around 45 minutes before.

She began on the sidelines, back in a familiar place. Three years after her role as super-sub won England the Euros, Kelly had still yet to escape from the bench to graduate into Sarina Wiegman’s starting line-up. But if anyone knows how to make an impact off the bench, it’s Kelly. And in Zurich, the Wembley match-winner of Euro 2022 rescued England’s Euro 2025. Brought on in the 78th minute, Kelly’s first assist came in the 79th, the second in the 81st. Two perfect crosses, played with pace and the desire to change the game, found their targets and had the desired effect of turning a quarter-final on its head.

(REUTERS)

There was not enough time for snapping her fingers, but England’s “positive clique” had delivered for Wiegman again. With a game-plan in tatters and the Lionesses heading home, perhaps the only souls in Zurich who still believed were those warming the bench. Kelly revealed this week that England’s substitutes have their own group chat, separate from the squad, where they can motivate each other into taking their chance should it come.

Kelly led from the front, as England forced extra time and then survived it, but she was not alone. Wiegman’s substitutes were eclectic, random, and at the time surprising. Protection in midfield? Depth in attack? Control in the build-up? Wiegman appeared to laugh in the face of any concept that wasn’t just pure chaos and England were better off with it.

Michelle Agyemang was the disruptor, the Wembley ball-girl who scored for England at a major tournament, with Beth Mead setting up England’s equaliser with her own instincts in the box. Esme Morgan helped stabilise England’s defence next to Leah Williamson. Grace Clinton was thrown into the madness yet somehow kept her head.

England had ended up with a formation that made no sense: Keira Walsh was left by herself in midfield, then it was down to Clinton to cover such a wide expanse of the pitch on her own. Lauren James was allowed to float where she could, sometimes holding next to Walsh, sometimes pushing to join the Arsenal quarter of Kelly, Mead, Agyemang and the tireless Alessia Russo in attack. James was everywhere and stood up when it mattered most.

Lucy Bronze, who has seen it all with England but may not have experienced a comeback quite like this, ended up as a right-winger and plundered England’s route back into the game as she arrived at the back post. Alex Greenwood was the last one standing in defence, marshalling Morgan and Niamh Charles. Hannah Hampton helped England survive the onslaught.

Never before had Wiegman’s intended plan deviated to such a wild extent. England had named the same team that had so comfortably beaten Netherlands and Wales but Sweden tore right through it. For England, it came from a collective place of such naivety, bordering even on arrogance, that Sweden couldn’t believe what had been handed to them as they raced into a two-goal lead while the Lionesses routinely shot themselves in the foot by playing out from the back.

Off came Jess Carter, along with Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone. There was no replacement midfielder. Instead England went direct and Kelly produced her magic from the wings: her cross for Bronze’s header came just 68 seconds after coming onto the pitch, then second delivery to lead to more mayhem and Agyemang’s equaliser a couple of minutes later. Then penalties arrived and Kelly again knew where she needed to be: spinning the ball on the spot, playing her own game, this time to save England and send them through.