England’s fight to keep their Under-21 Euros title defence alive spilled over after the final whistle after a 3-1 victory over Spain descended into a furious 22-man brawl.
Goals from James McAtee, Harvey Elliott and Elliot Anderson booked a semi-final date with the Netherlands on Wednesday night but the big talking point here in Trnava was what followed.
Tino Livramento had the ball in the corner in the final seconds when a wicked flying challenge came in from Spain, leading to the final whistle and a royal rumble from both sides.
Elliott was grabbed by the throat by Spain’s reserve goalkeeper while McAtee was surrounded by furious opponents. Boss Lee Carsley and assistant Ashley Cole raced onto the pitch to pull their players away as things escalated.
‘I saw the boys start going into it, so I was always going in to help,’ McAtee said. ‘It’s part of football, and you just have to stick together as a team.
‘It’s a big game, we know that. It’s two big teams in the tournament, so them kicking off, we can’t sit back and just let them do it, we have to give them a bit back, so I am happy with the boys.’
England won this tournament in Georgia two years ago but had flattered to deceive in the tournament so far, stumbling out of the groups and they arrived here as underdogs, not that any of the players agreed.
Carsley told some home truths to his players after they lost their final group game 2-1 to Germany and he shuffled his pack with four changes here.
In came captain McAtee and Livramento, while Tyler Morton and Jay Stansfield received their first starts of the tournament.
Less than 90 seconds in it looked like it would be a case of deja vu for Carsley and his players when Italian referee Simone Souza pointed to the spot for a handball on Charlie Cresswell.
Germany took the lead three minutes in and here were Spain with the chance to punish England inside two minutes, only for VAR to intervene and overturn.
That was a game-changing moment for England, who looked a team transformed in the immediate aftermath.
They found a way to dominate possession, Morton and Alex Scott doing a brilliant job at passing it around frustrated Spanish markers and 10 minutes in England got their reward.
Scott’s whipped in corner was inadvertently flicked on at the near post by a Spanish head and it was McAtee who reacted quickest to the loose ball, firing into the corner from eight yards out.
Carsley’s calm demeanour was put to the test five minutes later when Jarrell Quansah, who is on the brink of sealing a move from Liverpool to Bayer Leverkusen, strode forward purposefully into midfield before unleashing a fizzing low drive at goal.
Spanish goalkeeper Alejandro Iturbe spilled the shot and before he had chance to gather at the second attempt Harvey Elliott had raced in to score and had wheeled off in celebration. England found themselves in dreamland.
So, for England to head into the break only one goal up instead of two, and for it to have been their own sloppiness that brought on a Spain goal, will have wrangled.
Scott was far too casual on the edge of his own box and having been robbed of possession, Alberto Moleiro skipped inside and was fouled by the outstretched leg of Quansah. Penalty. No need for VAR this time.
Javi Guerra waited for James Beadle to dive the other way and he coolly slotted in to reduce the deficit at 2-1. Game on.
Spain rallied, as England knew they would, and Guerra had two bites at the apple to draw them level on the hour mark when Raul Moro’s cutback found him unmarked in the area, only this time Beadle came up huge for England with two reactionary saves.
England finally sealed victory in stoppage time when Iturbe raced out of his goal and was late to the ball after Jonathan Rowe got their first. Penalty England, confidently dispatched by Anderson.
‘This can’t be our final,’ Carsley said. ‘This can’t be our highlight of the competition, there are better nights to come.’
