England analysis: Bukayo Saka's match-winning performance vs Switzerland

When England last took part in a penalty shoot-out at the UEFA European Championship, Bukayo Saka's saved spot kick signalled their defeat by Italy in the Wembley final three summers ago.

Fast forward to the present and England's Player of the Match in Dusseldorf helped script an altogether different ending against Switzerland on Saturday evening.

His successful conversion of England's third penalty in their 5-3 shoot-out success inevitably drew much of the post-match focus yet for UEFA technical observers Fabio Capello and Avram Grant, it was Saka's all-around performance which warranted attention as the dust began to settle on this tight quarter-final tie.

With England, for the first time at this EURO, operating in a back five when out of possession, Saka had a right wing-back role to fill. Yet this did not stop him providing their main attacking threat, taking on defenders and producing seven runs behind in the first half-hour alone.

Crucially, he was later the man who popped up with the equalising goal in the 80th minute, with what was England's first attempt on target.

The video above shows Saka's goal, though it begins with an example of his always-positive approach in the first period, as he gets the better of Michel Aebischer out on the right wing and delivers a cross.

"England were looking to create on the right with Saka," said the observers of the Player of the Match. "At the end of the first half, for example, he did two amazing one-v-ones in a very small area. He also defended very well on that side."

Saka's desire to make things happen is illustrated by his performance data. He produced the most ball carries into the final third (25) as well as the most crosses (nine). He was active without the ball too, posting the most runs in behind (15) of any player on the pitch.

To highlight the extent to which England looked to their right flank, 63% of their passes into the final third were on that side with Saka receiving 25 of the 45 balls played there.

His most significant contribution, of course, was his equalising goal which is seen in the second clip above. Declan Rice plays his part by drawing Steven Zuber away to the right, giving Saka more space as he steps inside past Aebischer and approaches the edge of the box before unleashing a wonderfully placed shot. With Manuel Akanji and Harry Kane blocking Yann Sommer's line of sight, the Switzerland goalkeeper sees the ball late as it flies past him and inside the far post.

With it, Saka had his fourth major-tournament goal for England, following his three strikes at Qatar 2022.

England manager Gareth Southgate said of Saka's role on the right: "We felt with the ball, the patterns that we used caused them problems at the side of their block. With Bukayo, we knew we had a one-v-one advantage in that area of the pitch, and he kept delivering.

"He's now got a lot more experience of those pressure moments and his all-round performance was exceptional," added Southgate of the 22-year-old. "The detail of how he had to defend, track and be in the right positions was very complex down that side of the pitch [and] then to give us the outlet in those one-against-one situations. He did, he kept that positive note. His performance was immense."