Foden sparkles as U21s sail into Euros
ENGLAND Under 21s sealed their spot at the 2019 European Championship in swashbuckling style last night, putting seven past Andorra to confirm qualification with a game to spare. A draw would have done for Aidy Boothroyd’s side but this was emphatic, with Manchester City’s Phil Foden looking every bit a pass master on his Under 21 debut. Ademola Lookman, Ezri Konsa, Dominic Solanke, Reiss Nelson and a double from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, along with an own goal, made it a rout in Chesterfield. England face Scotland in Edinburgh on Tuesday in their final Group Four game. ‘We knew beforehand we should win this game, but you know what football’s like,’ said Boothroyd. ‘We scored early enough so we could start to enjoy what we were doing. The performance was excellent. We take into account the opponent. We’ve qualified, which is the biggest thing.’ England went ahead on eight minutes. Everton’s Lookman was fed by club-mate Jonjoe Kenny, feigned to shoot with his right foot, switched to his left and scored. Andorra goalkeeper Francisco Pires kept things respectable for a while, denying Foden (right), Lookman and Kyle Walker-Peters. But England doubled their lead on 27 minutes when Lewis Cook’s 35-yard strike was saved before Brentford’s Konsa jumped on the rebound. It was 3-0 when Pires spilled the ball to Lookman, who crossed for a Calvert-Lewin tap in. England were awarded a penalty at the start of the second half when Claudi Bove dragged down Konsa. Calvert-Lewin found the top-left corner. Substitute Solanke made it 5-0 when the Liverpool striker rounded Pires to tap into an empty net. In stoppage time, a heel-flick by Nelson — as cheeky as it was cool — made it six before Christian Garcia’s own goal. That completed the rout, and confirmed England’s involvement at the Under 21 European Championship for a seventh successive tournament. ENGLAND (4-3-3): Henderson; Kenny (DaSilva 72min), Fry, Konsa, Walker-Peters; Foden, Cook, Davies; Lookman (Nelson 72), Calvert-Lewin (Solanke 72), Sessegnon. Subs not used: Gunn, Onomah, Clarke-Salter, Abraham. Scorers: Lookman 8, Konsa 27, Calvert-Lewin 45+1, 49 pen, Solanke 81, Nelson 90+2, Garcia 90+3 og. Booked: Calvert-Lewin, Cook.