England booked their place in the European U21 Championship semi-finals with a fine 3-1 victory over Spain in Slovakia.
Holders England, who next face the Netherlands, benefited from an early let off after a VAR check resulted in an overturned penalty.
Captain James McAtee opened the scoring in the 10th minute and Harvey Elliott netted his second goal of the tournament five minutes later.
Javi Guerra clawed a goal back for Spain with a 39th-minute penalty, but substitute Elliot Anderson’s own spot-kick in second-half stoppage-time assured Lee Carsley’s players of their spot in the final four.
“We talked about getting a fast start and to give the penalty away after a minute, obviously then going to VAR – the lads showed a lot of character,” Carsley told Channel 4 afterwards.
“I thought the first half we were so good. I was saying before the game, I think the longer we can stay in, the more fluid we will become. Some really outstanding performances and they should be proud of themselves.”
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott was on target for England
Spain thought they won a penalty in the opening minutes when Charlie Cresswell – looking like he was trying to get out of the way – was penalised for a handball by on-field referee Simone Sozza.
The Italian was called to the monitor by his VAR compatriot and England breathed a sigh of relief when the call was overturned.
The Young Lions never looked back as McAtee opened the scoring from an Alex Scott corner after a flick-on by Omari Hutchinson. Spain got a touch but only in the direction of the alert England skipper, who turned home from close range.
Elliott doubled England’s advantage five minutes later, tapping in the rebound after Spain goalkeeper Alejandro Iturbe spilled a save from Jarell Quansah’s long-range effort.
England gifted Spain another chance from 12 yards, however, after losing the ball deep inside their own third, exacerbating the error when Quansah, who dangled a leg, caught Alberto Moleiro and Sozza immediately pointed to the spot.
Tempers frayed after the final whistle
Guerra stepped up and halved the deficit after coolly sending James Beadle the wrong way.
Some great work from Quansah and Hutchinson after the restart nearly set up Jay Stansfield, who saw his effort deflect over, shortly before Cresswell nodded a corner into the side-netting.
Beadle twice denied Guerra then gathered a Mateo Joseph effort, while England were still in search of a first shot on target since Elliott’s goal with 20 minutes remaining after Tyler Morton fired just wide.
Jack Hinshelwood should have extended England’s lead but he mistimed a free header over the crossbar.
England hit Spain, who were searching for a late equaliser, on the counter when Iturbe was punished for bringing down Jonathan Rowe inside the penalty area, which Anderson slotted home to seal victory.
Netherlands await in Wednesday’s semi-final after they beat Portugal 1-0 earlier on Saturday.
Elliott ‘lost for words’ over England performance
England goalscorer Harvey Elliott:
“Incredible. Lost for words. I said at the start of the game it was going to be very tough, they’re going to play an incredible game against us.
“But I thought the way the lads handled it, handled the pressure, conceding a goal and being determined to keep on going, keep on fighting, we deserve it so much.
“Now it’s kind of time to celebrate but we need to think about the semis now. Celebrate, recover, rest, go again.”
