There is something about Lee Carsley and this competition. Just when it looked like England were heading for a nervous period of extra time against the Netherlands after the goalkeeper James Beadle had been embarrassed by Noah Ohio’s incredible 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 – one of only two remaining players who featured in Georgia two years ago – was the toast of Bratislava as England’s place in the final was confirmed, his manager greeted the full-time whistle by calmly 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 by defeating Germany, who won 3-0 against France in the other semi-final.
England’s squad have been imbued with a renewed sense of confidence since booking their place in the last four for an 11th time at this level to draw level with Spain and Italy in the record books. With Michael Reiziger’s Dutch side missing three of their best players through suspension, it was Carsley’s team that took the initiative but could not find a way through until midway through the second half.
Ohio – who represented England at under-16 level after playing for both Manchester United and Manchester City’s academies and is also a close friend of Jude Bellingham – briefly threatened to put a spanner in the works when he found the net from a very tight angle from more than 40 yards out after Beadle had strayed too far out of his goal.
But Elliott has proven his quality in this competition and the finish for the decisive goal gave Arne Slot another reminder of what Liverpool will miss if he is allowed to move on this summer, even if he later regretted celebrating with a knee slide. “Hopefully it’s not too serious,” he said. “It was a silly decision from me.”
Omari Hutchinson was England’s best player in the first half and the Ipswich forward came close to setting up Elliott in the third minute but somehow Robin Roefs stretched out his left leg just in time to divert his shot around the post. The NEC Nijmegen goalkeeper had to be alert again to beat away Elliott’s powerful shot after good work from Jay Stansfield as England continued to dominate, with Hutchinson looking dangerous whenever he had the ball.
Carsley’s instructions to his players during the cooling break featuring iced towels to try to combat the 33-degree heat was simple: “For 25 minutes they haven’t had a kick,” said the England manager. “Keep it up.”
With the Dutch defence marshalled by the impressive teenager Jorrel Hato – who became Ajax’s youngest captain at the age of just 17 and already has six caps for the senior side – England were finding it hard to create another goalscoring opportunity.
Their frustration was compounded when Elliot Anderson was harshly booked for catching Antoni Milambo in the face, although it almost ended up with an England goal as the Netherlands wasted the free-kick and Alex Scott’s effort was deflected wide by Milambo following a lighting break downfield featuring a glorious dummy from Elliott.
Reiziger took pity on Neraysho Kasanwirjo, who spent last season on loan at Rangers, after his roasting from Hutchinson in the first half and replaced him at the break. It appeared to have the desired effect as the Netherlands looked far more balanced. Beadle then had to be at full stretch to deny Ian Maatsen’s powerful drive from outside the area as the Dutch grew in confidence.
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But they suddenly found themselves behind when Anderson beat Hato to the ball in midfield and was unceremoniously brought down, although not before he had found Elliott as he hit the turf.
This time, Roefs had no chance as he drilled his shot into the net to spark celebrations on the England bench that were led by former England left-back Cole. Elliot was still feeling the exertions during the second-half cooling break as another member of England’s coaching staff sprayed his face and the back of his neck with water.
Their joy was short-lived when Charlie Cresswell miscontrolled an innocuous long ball forward from Aston Villa’s Maatsen and Ohio was able to squeeze his shot past Beadle at the near post.
Elliott had spurned a golden chance to restore England’s lead just before he eventually did, picking up the ball just outside the area and finishing off a mazy run with another pile-driver. In this form, he and Carsley will take some stopping.
