Lee Carsley’s England are into this year’s U21 European Championships semi-finals after riding their luck at times and ultimately grinding out a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal, courtesy of Anthony Gordon’s well-taken strike ten minutes before half-time. They’ll next play Israel – who they beat in Group C last week – on Wednesday for a place in next weekend’s showpiece event.
England start bright, before their breakthrough
- England remain the only team not to have conceded in the tournament with four consecutive clean sheets (seven goals scored), after Newcastle winger Gordon converted a slick passing move as Portugal carved open
- Israel will look to avenge their Group C defeat by Carsley’s core group of talented youngsters in midweek, having won 4-3 on penalties against Georgia in one of Saturday’s two quarter-finals
- Portugal boasted a 18-5 differential in shots, but despite substitute Henrique Araujo hitting the woodwork and them having a penalty appeal waved away in a frantic second-half, couldn’t find the equaliser
It was far from a straightforward success, but England under-21s are into the European Championship semifinals after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal.
Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon had the final say on the scoresheet and it was fitting, given he was central to the Young Lions’ maiden attack after four minutes.
He teed up Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones on the edge of the area, who skewed his effort wide of Celton Biai’s far post.
An early warning sign, one replicated down the other end as Everton’s James Garner – playing in an unfamiliar right-back role – almost gifted away a goal.
Wolves winger Pedro Neto shot goalwards, but James Trafford was on hand to produce a diving stop and thwart the 23-year-old at his near post.
Gordon led the press from the front as England stifled Portugal in possession, before Chelsea’s highly-rated defender Levi Colwill displayed a glimpse of why everyone wants him after beating Fabio Silva in a foot race to snuff out a short backpass.
He then advanced 60 yards up the pitch with the ball virtually stuck to his feet as sections of the crowd showed their appreciation for a 20-year-old with a big decision to make this summer as far as his long-term future at club level is concerned.
Midway through the first-half, Ramsey’s clever incisive pass threaded through Gordon – but Biai comfortably saved his low effort.
A few minutes later, Trafford took liberties with his distribution at the back and Portugal almost had an opening before the ball broke for England in transition.
Guilty of overplaying during what was a 4v3 attacking situation, Ramsey tried squaring across for a simple Morgan Gibbs-White tap-in but Portugal cleared their lines at the last moment.
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke cut inside from the right and curled an ambitious effort wide before playing an important role in the build-up to England’s winner.
It was beautifully worked after Gomes slid through Ramsey and the 22-year-old surged forward with options on both sides. Madueke fed Gibbs-White on the far side, before Gordon was again the beneficiary of another cutback into his feet.
This time, he made no mistake and Portugal’s backline were caught all at sea trying to recover in time.
“It’s what happens when you have top players around you – you’re going to get chances, it’s up to me to finish them.
I probably should have had one or two more, which I’m a bit gutted about but, playing with Morgan, I know that once he gets to that byline we have good chemistry. It’s paying off at the moment, so I’m very thankful for him.”
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Even after that slick move, England captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis produced a big sliding block on the stroke of half-time to thwart an abrupt equaliser.
Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares rode his luck with a marauding run, before sliding an inviting pass towards the area and watching a dummy deceive a few before Tiago Dantas shot goalwards but the Manchester City defender was crucially alert.
A scrappy and suspenseful second-half, as Portugal grew
England made no changes at the break, Paulo Bernardo replaced Samuel Costa for the Esperanças and soon you could sense their confidence growing.
Norwich fullback Max Aarons was booked for a late tackle on Francisco Conceicao and that proved the catalyst for Portugal to continue targeting that right-hand side, aware Ramsey wouldn’t always protect his teammate out of possession.
Tensions predictably rose midway through the second-half as Portugal probed and looked quite ominous in their search for an equaliser, as Conceicao fired wide before sub Bernardo flashed a header across goal.
Ramsey had been playing through a knock for a while but couldn’t continue any longer as Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe replaced him on 67 minutes, before Colwill conjured up another important block under pressure.
Joao Neves’ low cross invited Henrique Araujo to attack the ball and instead he went down in a heap after tangling with Harwood-Bellis, as Portugal players bayed for a penalty. It was a 50-50 collision but the type of challenge that has been given before.
Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic ignored their protests, signalling for an England free-kick, and the VAR review team didn’t disagree with his decision either.
A bullet dodged for England, another arrived three minutes later as Araujo glanced a header goalwards with Harwood-Bellis nearby but watched his effort cannon back off the upright after it looped over a helpless Trafford in goal.
Time for a double change then, as a quiet Madueke and the booked Aarons were hooked for City midfielder Cole Palmer and West Ham’s Ben Johnson.
Dantas forced Trafford into action two minutes later, as it was clear by this stage England were flagging and in need of some respite. Would they survive the onslaught and extend their unblemished defensive run?
Tavares was guilty of being overzealous as he attacked a loose ball, fouling Garner in the process, to try taking advantage of another chink in England’s armour.
Nervy moments continued when Trafford tried but failed to claim Conceicao’s swerving cross and the ball just hit Neto at the far post, trickling out for a goal-kick.
Had he been aware the City goalkeeper would misjudge the ball’s flight, perhaps he’d have positioned himself differently and scored his first goal since March.
Diego Moreira, who this past week signed for Chelsea, made a loud first contribution from the bench. He dazzled and danced towards the area, teed up a teammate and ran into space as Colwill was baited into fouling Araujo outside the box.
Portugal had a free-kick in a dangerous position, Neto despite his best efforts couldn’t force anything of note and it proved his last action of the evening as Marseille forward Vitinha replaced him in the dying embers.
“We have to leave here with our heads held high, lacked a bit of quality in some moments – but nothing can be done now, it’s over. In the second-half we demonstrated what we really are, playing attacking, quick and pressing football.
We tried to find the spaces and play in one-on-one situations, lacked aggression in the first-half and you pay dearly against these teams.”
- Dantas in reflective mood afterwards, all things considered
Dantas, their captain, misplaced a pass and watched it painfully trickle out of play deep into stoppage-time – typifying an evening that wasn’t to be for Portugal, no matter how hard they tried to force extra-time.
Pictures and quotes via UEFA.com, Getty
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