Monday 5 September 2011

Euro U21 - England U21s see off Israel

Second half goals from Martyn Waghorn, Marvin Sordell, a Nathan Delfouneso penalty and Henri Lansbury saw England power to victory after finding themselves behind at the break thanks to a Mohammad Klibat strike.
There were three debuts in the England side as Manchester United's Ben Amos, Everton's Ross Barkley and Liverpool's Andre Wisdom all picked up their first caps whereas Dan Gosling, Jonjo Shelvey, Sordell and Waghorn were all making their first starts, showing that Stuart Pearce was prepared to experiment in the only friendly his team have this year.
The patched together nature of the England side was evident early on as they struggled to find their rhythm and although they were happy to dominate possession in the opening stages, they did not come close to hurting the visitors.
The first shot in anger came on 18 minutes from the 17-year-old Barkley who looked lively and fired in an effort from just outside the penalty box that was parried away by the Israeli goalkeeper Boris Kleyman.
It looked like the home side might just be starting to impose themselves on the game in the following minutes when they went a goal behind to a fine strike from Klibat.
As an England corner was cleared, Israel broke at real pace and Manchester City's Guy Assulin raced to the edge of the opposition's penalty before squaring it to the waiting Klibat, he cut onto his left foot and curled an excellent strike.into the top left corner leaving Amos no chance at all.
The young lions were rattled by that breakthrough but composed themselves and Shelvey and then Gosling came close but they could not find an equaliser before the break and went in to face their manager surprisingly behind.
Pearce made three changes at half time, introducing Lansbury, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Smith, and a combination of the new additions and whatever the manager said seemed to make an instant impact.
The tempo was raised and Sordell was a lot less isolated at the start of the second half and the only real surprise was that it took 13 minutes for England to draw level, but they did on 58 minutes, via the head of Waghorn.
Oxlade-Chamberlain did brilliantly down the right, showing great pace in beating two men and then picking out his colleague who was totally unmarked at the back post and had the simple task of nodding it past Kleyman which he did with ease.
The home side were buoyed by the goal and just three minutes later they were ahead and in some style as Sordell received the ball 30 yards out with his back to goal, turned onto his left foot and thrashed an effort into the top right corner without thinking twice. It was a moment of inspiration from the Watford man and set Oakwell alight with its quality.
Israel showed great commitment and did anything but roll over as the goal scorer Klibat and substitute Muanas Dabbur squandered good chances, but it was all over for them in the 82nd minute as England made it 3-1 from the penalty spot.
Oxlade-Chamberlain again showed his extreme pace on the right and skipped away from two before Ofir Davidzada left a leg out and tripped the Arsenal man, the referee took a second to decide but with the help of the linesman made the right decision.
Substitute Nathan Delfouneso stepped up and calmly slotted the spot kick into the bottom right corner sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
England's comeback was complete in the 92nd minute when another of the substitutes Lansbury made it 4-1, thanks again to the work of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Again he broke at supreme pace down the right wing and again he showed great composure to pick out Lansbury who was breaking into the box, his first touch teed himself up for a thunderous volley from six yards out which left Kleyman no chance.
As much as Pearce will have been disappointed with the first half, the second will have more than made up for it and his side eventually ran out worthy and convincing winners.

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