Toone nets as England claim Euro glory
Manchester United's Ella Toone was on the scoresheet as England triumphed 2-1 over Germany to be crowned winners of the 2022 UEFA Women's European Championship on home soil.
After being introduced as part of a double change with fellow Red Alessia Russo on 55 minutes, Toone put the Lionesses into the lead with a wonderful chip shortly after, before Lina Magull tied the game with just 11 minutes to go.
United's Mary Earps made several important stops across the 90 minutes before the contest went to extra-time. Sarina Wiegman's side continued to battle valiantly and got the reward 10 minutes from time, as Manchester City's Chloe Kelly prodded home to clinch a historic victory at Wembley for the competition hosts.
Speaking to BBC Sport post-match, Toone said: "It doesn't seem real, I am absolutely buzzing my head off. It's the best day of my life. I can't even explain what it feels like.
"Honestly it's the best moment of my career, the best moment of my life, ever. I am absolutely on top of the world and I am so proud to be able to do it with these girls."
On Ella's goal, Russo added: "Unbelievable, as soon as she got put through I knew it was going in the back of the net. That's the class she has and I knew she could do it on the biggest stage of them all."
The Lionesses had beaten Austria (1-0) in the tournament opener at Old Trafford before completing the group-stage with a 100 per cent record following victories over Norway (8-0) and Northern Ireland (5-0), with goalkeeper Earps keeping three clean sheets, while Russo netted three times from the bench.
In the quarter-final, it was Toone's impact off the bench that kept the nation's hopes of success alive, as out no.7 netted a late equaliser before England completed a comeback victory over Spain.
Earlier this week, Wiegman's side overcame Sweden 4-0 to advance to the final in a win that included an iconic Russo backheel goal.
Ella Toone! What a moment! #BBCEuros #BBCFootball
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2022
🚨 ELLA TOONE IN A #WEURO2022 FINAL 🚨
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) July 31, 2022
❤️ @EllaToone99 #MUWomen || #Lionesses https://t.co/J6OVK8Z59H pic.twitter.com/2kCTdq6j4S
TOONE MAGIC! OH. MY. WORD. ✨
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) July 31, 2022
Tooney and Lessi Russo 🎶
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 31, 2022
MARY EARPS WOW ❤️
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) July 31, 2022
🏆 OUR ENGLAND. OUR CHAMPIONS. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/gf4BHUd5fW
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 31, 2022
IT CAME HOME
— Aoife Mannion (@aoifemannion_) July 31, 2022
😍 YOUR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS 😍 pic.twitter.com/8mW7ngE0fR
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 31, 2022
Shining on the biggest stage of all 🌟🏴
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) July 31, 2022
🏆 #WEURO2022 #MUWomen || #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/rXRLaL4XKX
CHAMPIONS!!🏆
— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) July 31, 2022
CONGRATS!!🥳 https://t.co/3fPeF0txqk
The result in the final sees England's women's team secure a first-ever major-tournament-final victory in front of a competition-record crowd of 87,192 in the capital.
A huge congratulations to our Lionesses!