Evening Standard
·14 November 2023
Evening Standard
·14 November 2023
After downing Brazil in their opener, Iran posed a strong threat to the Young Lions who had smashed 10 goals past New Caledonia to get their campaign in Indonesia underway.
England fell behind on the half-hour mark when Abolfazl Zamani poked home a goalmouth scramble from a corner.
The introduction of Chelsea midfielder Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny saw the game swing back in their favour however and he netted an accurate finish from outside the box shortly after coming on.
Greg Lincoln's youngsters pushed for the winner and finally edged ahead when Manchester City's Joel Ndala managed to round the Iran goalkeeper on the edge of the box.
From a tight angle, the 17-year-old's superb curled finish beat two defenders on the line and put England within touching distance of the last-16.
They face Brazil in Jakarta on Friday knowing a point will be enough to see them into the knockouts. The South Americans fired off an impressive 81 shots in beating New Caledonia 9-0 on Tuesday.