England U21 1-2 Germany U21: Germany’s Under-21s extend unbeaten run against Young Lions | OneFootball

In a fixture which always grabs the attention of fans from either nation, no matter the level, Germany’s Under-21s made it three wins on the bounce after a comfortable victory over England’s Under-21s at Štadión pod Zoborom in the UEFA Euro Under-21 Championship.

Ansgar Knauff game Germany the lead in the third minute, and half an hour later it was doubled by Nelson Weiper. Alex Scott reduced the arears with 15 minutes of football left to play, but The Young Lions couldn’t pull level.

England will now face tournament favourites Spain in the quarter-finals, while Germany secured their place at the top of Group B.

As it happened

Eleven changes made no difference to Germany’s mindset and this was proved when they opened the scoring in the early exchanges.

The ball was lofted over the head of Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah and weighted perfectly into the path of Knauff, who converted his chance with confidence.

Despite being a goal behind, England controlled the tempo of the game and were patient in their build up, with Omari Hutchinson and Ethan Nwaneri at the heart of most attacks.

Midway through the first half, Nwaneri played an intelligent pass through into Jonathon Rowe but the attacker failed to test Tjark Ernst.

Moments later, Samuel Iling-Junior made a timely interception to deny Knauff an opportunity for his second goal.

Despite England’s possession and probing play, Knauff’s whipped crossed found the head of Weiper, who nodded in Germany’s second of the evening just past the half-hour mark.

England continued to create chances and looked towards captain Harvey Elliott for a lifeline, but his strike sailed over the crossbar.

Lee Carsley’s team needed a response and that message was made clear when a triple substitution was made at halftime, with James McAtee, Jay Stansfield and Brooke Norton-Cuffy introduced for the second period.

England continued to poke at the Germany defence but failed to find the finishing touch they needed to reduce the deficit.

With twenty minutes to play, the space opened up for Scott to dispatch an effort on goal, but his tame effort was comfortable for Ernst to collect.

England’s best chance came through a teasing Scott cross which it reached the head of Hinshelwood, before narrowly missing the target.

The Young Lions eventually got their goal back in the 76th minute after some individual brilliance from Hutchinson allowed him to advance forward before putting the ball on a plate for Scott, who tapped home.

Charlie Cresswell’s header in the final 10 minutes, looked destined for the back of the net, instead, it stung the palms of Ernst, with Germany seeing out the rest of the match to take an important three points and top Group B.

Carsley’s side had numerous efforts on goal compared to Germany, but failed to finish their chances when they needed it most, resulting in a loss on the night.

The lineups

ENG: Beadle; Hinshelwood, Cresswell, Quansah, Iling-Junior; Anderson, Scott; Nwaneri, Elliott, Hutchinson; Rowe

GER: Ernst; Baum, Oermann, Siebert, Ullrich; Röhl, Jander; Knauff, Wanner, Thielmann; Weiper