A BACKHEEL CHIP!
Solanke’s superb goal as Under 21s sign off in style
THe frustrations Dominic Solanke is experiencing with Liverpool are proving no barrier to his ambitions of becoming england’s main man.
Solanke is one of the brightest talents in a pool of gifted Under 21 players but he is in the wilderness at anfield. He has not played a single minute for Jurgen Klopp this season — his last involvement in the squad was on September 26 — and the Football association are anxious about his inactivity.
It says much for his talent, then, that he can produce football of this quality, scoring two superb goals in a 5-1 demolition. His second was an extravagant back-heel chip and his display had aidy Boothroyd purring.
‘ For Dom to come in after playing no games and do that, it’s brilliant,’ said the Under 21s head coach. ‘He has got Tammy abraham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin right on his toes and they are getting regular games for their clubs.’
Solanke also scored twice in the 2-1 victory over Italy in Ferrara last Thursday and it reinforced the belief that he will be the key figure if england are going to be successful when they return to Italy for euro 2019.
The game against Denmark was england’s 13th and final match of the calendar year but it never threatened to be unlucky. On top from the start, the only surprise was that it took them 31 minutes to score. The breakthrough came when manchester City’s Phil Foden slipped a beautifully weighted pass in to Leicester forward Demarai Gray, who finished with ease.
Denmark were visibly deflated and fell further behind to a wonderful goal. Sheffield United goalkeeper Dean Henderson started the move and six passes later, everton winger Kieran Dowell crossed from the byline for Solanke, who planted a firm header past Daniel Iversen.
a moment of sloppiness enabled Denmark to quickly pull a goal back as marcus Ingvartsen pounced but hopes of a comeback were snuffed out right after the restart when Solanke reacted first, back-heeling past Iversen after Foden’s shot had been parried.
Chances started to arrive at such frequency that you expected Solanke to complete his hat-trick but, in the end, the rout was completed by substitute CalvertLewin, who scored two goals in five minutes, the second of them a penalty — which Solanke could have taken.
‘He is egoless,’ Boothroyd said of Solanke. ‘It is refreshing to see a player who has that much talent with that much humility. I’m delighted for him.’
With players such as Solanke, Calvert-Lewin and Foden at his disposal, Boothroyd is entitled to feel that 2019 will prove even better. The draw for the tournament is on Friday and nobody will want to face england.
‘Their coach said to me, “See you in the summer”,’ Boothroyd said with a smile. ‘He then said, “Well, hopefully not!” It’s a nice compliment but we won’t be getting complacent. If we tighten up on one or two things we will be in a good position.’