New Manchester United signing Jackie Groenen ensured the Netherlands finally got the better of an excellent Hedvig Lindahl in the Swedish goal, in extra time, to set up a final between the reigning world champions, the USA, and the European champions.

“Well I just saw a nice angle and we’ve been discussing it for a few weeks now about me taking more shots,” said Groenen. ”The ball came nicely and I thought I should just do it.”

“I wasn’t emotional at all after this game to be honest,” said Netherlands manager Sarina Wiegman. “It might come later. I don’t think it has sunk in yet.”

A dull 90 minutes, perhaps the dullest of the tournament, saw a grey game under a grey sky stumble towards extra time scoreless.

Neither the Netherlands nor Sweden had looked likely to make the breakthrough in Lyon, instead the former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeepers Lindahl and Sari Van Veenendaal, both let go by their WSL sides, were arguably the stars and firmly in the shop window. But in the 99th minute Groenen, whose form had been a concern going into the World Cup, beat Lindahl from 20 yards with a low strike.

The crowd were underwhelmed in the first half - the allegedly sold out stadium so patchy you could make out the ‘Olympique Lyonnaise’ in white seats across the top tier - and the play mirrored the lacklustre support. It was two evenly matched teams playing it safe.

Lina Hunting came in for the suspended Fridolina Rolfo and Elin Rubensson remained in her starting position due to a late injury to Nathalie Bjorn in the warm-up, while a struggling Shanice van de Sanden was benched in favour of 22-year-old Bayern Munich forward Lineth Beerensteyn.

Changes were minimal, contrasting heavily with the tactical chess from Phil Neville and Jill Ellis on Tuesday night. With the Dutch unable to carry out their usual orange march to the stadium, officials ruling out the 12-mile route from the centre on health and safety grounds, this was not the buzzing home-away-from-home that the Netherlands players had become a little accustomed to in the north.

Sweden’s first chance fell to Stina Blackstenius, who scored against Canada and Germany on the way to Lyon, Sofia Jakobsson slipped a neat pass to the Linkopings forward overlapping on the right but her shot was hesitant and straight at Sari Van Veenendaal.

With creative hub Lieke Martens whipped off in favour of Jill Roord at half time - “Lieke, I don’t know, she had a hard time, we‘ll see in the next couple of days [whether she will play in the final]” said Wiegman - the Netherlands struggled to bring VivianneMiedema into play.

A Dominique Bloodworth corner though, found the Dutch record goalscorer towards the far post but her powerful header was expertly nudged by the fingertips of Lindahl onto the bar.

Van de Sanden received a raucous welcome when ushered into the fray with less than 20 minutes to play. And she immediately burst into life flying towards the Swedish box before earning a corner and thrusting her arms up and down trying to inspire some life into the limp match.

In extra time though, it was Groenen that would prove the difference.

Netherlands’ goalscorer Jackie Groenen (centre) celebrates after the final whistle. Photograph: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

The midfielder, who has grown into this tournament, darted towards the box and picked the ball up at the end of a nicely passing move before powering low past Lindahl.

“The feeling? Well, what can I say? A feeling of emptiness really,” said Sweden manager Peter Gerhardsson. “Everyone who has experienced it knows it. You’re not angry, you’re not sad, you’re not disappointed. Empty, that’s what I feel like right now.”

The Netherlands meet the USA back in this stadium on Sunday afternoon, while Sweden, who beat England 2-0 in November, meet the Lionesses in the third place play-off on Saturday in Nice.

“It’s about a medal and third is better than fourth so we’ll do everything to win it. It’s not a lot of time and we have to see if players who have played 120 minutes can play,” said Gerhardsson.