In the second semifinal of the Olympic women’s soccer tournament, Germany beat Canada 2-0.
The teams played pretty evenly in the first 15 minutes without many scoring opportunities.
Then in the 20th minute, Canada’s Kadeisha Buchanan tackled Germany’s Alexandra Popp in the box to give Germany a penalty kick.
Melanie Behringer stepped up for her side and blasted home her shot to give Germany a 1-0 lead. It was Behringer’s fifth goal at the 2016 Olympics which leads the tournament.
Just before halftime, Canada had its best chance of the first half as Buchanan won a header in the box and sent the ball toward goal, but a German defender cleared it off the line.
In the 57th minute, Janine Beckie received the ball at the top of the box and sent a shot just wide of the goal.
The missed opportunity proved to be pivotal in the match. Less than three minutes later, Germany’s Sara Daebritz sent a low, hard shot past Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe to double her team’s lead.
In the 77th minute, German goalkeeper Almuth Schult made a big save off a shot from Diana Matheson to maintain her team’s two-goal advantage.
Canada continued to put pressure on Germany’s defense for the remainder of the match, but could not find a goal as the match ended 2-0.
Germany advances to the Gold Medal Match where it will face Sweden on Friday, Aug. 19 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Canada will play Brazil in the Bronze Medal Match on Friday, Aug. 19 at 12:00 p.m. ET.