A late Camille Abily free-kick on Wednesday sent 10-woman France through to the Women’s Euro 2017 quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, while newcomers Austria routed Iceland 3-0.
In Breda, Netherlands, Switzerland took the lead after 19 minutes when Eve Perisset was sent off for bringing down Ramona Bachmann and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic slammed in a header from the ensuing free-kick.
In the 76th minute, Abily’s free-kick somehow slipped through the fingers of Switzerland goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann, following Crnogorcevic’s foul on Eugenie le Sommer.
Photo: EPA
Zadrazil fired home on 36 minutes, capitalizing on a howler by goalkeeper Gudbjorg Gunnarsdottir, who failed to deal with an easy cross.
Burger nodded in Zadrazil’s flicked header eight minutes later and Enzinger volleyed home on 90 minutes to round off the scoring.
France started on a high, with Claire Lavogez’s blast saved by a diving Thalmann.
However, things got complicated as Perisset left the pitch in tears, with France struggling against solid Switzerland defense.
Thalmann kept out Abily’s low shot, while Switzerland skipper Lara Dickenmann saw an effort repelled by Sarah Bouhaddi.
After the equalizer, France held off Switzerland’s pressure, with Crnogorcevic firing wide and Bachmann shooting straight at Bouhaddi.
“Believe me, it’s a great satisfaction,” France coach Olivier Echouafni said. “We believed in it right to the end and our equalizer, considering we had 10 against 11 for so long, was thoroughly deserved.”
In Rotterdam, Austria cruised to an easy win against Iceland to seal top spot in Group C with first-half goals by Sarah Zadrazil and Nina Burger, and a late strike by substitute Stefanie Enzinger.
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