England 2-1 Netherlands: Elliott 62, 85; Ohio 72
Defending champions to face either France or Germany
There is something about Lee Carsley and this competition. Just when it looked like England were heading for a nervy period of extra-time in their semi-final against the Netherlands after Brighton’s James Beadle had been embarrassed by Noah Ohio’s brilliant equaliser, a stunning winner five minutes from full-time by Harvey Elliott – his second goal of the evening and fourth in total in Slovakia – means the dream of winning successive European Under-21 tournaments is alive and well.
It is a reflection of what a cool customer Carsley is these days that while other members of the England bench looked shellshocked after Ohio had come off the bench to cancel out Elliott’s opener, he refused to panic. But while the Liverpool forward was the toast of Bratislava as England’s place in the final against either Germany or France was confirmed, his manager greeted the full-time whistle by gently embracing his assistant, Ashley Cole. The job is clearly not done yet as Carsley attempts to emulate the feat of Dave Sexton’s sides in 1982 and 1984.
There had been a renewed sense of confidence among Carsley’s players since booking their place in the last four for an 11th time at this level to draw level with Spain and Italy. With Michael Reiziger’s Dutch side missing three of their best players through suspension, it was England who took the initiative at the start. Omari Hutchinson left his marker for dead inside the opening three minutes and picked out Elliott at the back post but somehow Robin Roefs stretched out his left leg just in time to divert his shot around the post.
