OneFootball
Richard Buxton·8 July 2023
OneFootball
Richard Buxton·8 July 2023
England and Spain went toe-to-toe in Saturday’s Euro U21s final.
Here’s what went down.
Scorers: Jones 45+3
England won their first Euro U21s final since 1984 in a dramatic encounter against Spain.
Lee Carsley’s side started strongly with Anthony Gordon flashing a ball across the face of goal that Morgan Gibbs-White narrowly missed.
La Rojita grew into the opening stages as Álex Baena fired a warning shot through his long-range effort creeping past James Trafford’s goal.
Levi Colwill enjoyed the Young Lions’ best chance of the first 45 minutes with downward header which cannoned back off the woodwork.
Midway through five minutes of added time, Curtis Jones’ deflection from a Cole Palmer free kick was enough to put his country ahead.
Fallout from the strike saw several players booked while England assistant Ashley Cole and his Spain counterpart received red cards.
Spain appeared to have snatched an early second-half equaliser through Abel Ruiz before the goal was chalked off after a VAR review.
The five-time winners continued to ramp up the pressure on their counterparts as the clock continued to tick down.
Their persistence was rewarded as Santi Denia’s side were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time for Colwill’s foul on Ruiz.
But Trafford continued an historic streak of not conceding in six tournament games with an impressive double save to deny the Braga forward.