England MU17 vs Spain match report

England had a great opportunity to open the scoring already in the fourth minute against Spain, when Christian McFarlane reached the byline and picked out Finlay Cartwright, but his left-footed volley was deftly saved by the legs of Diego Diaz. Leke Drake then crashed past the follow-up goalkeepers but was superbly blocked by Real Madrid defender Marco Rivas a meter from his own line.

It was an entertaining first half hour as both teams looked to move the ball quickly and unlock the opposition defence, with Spike Brits needing to save low to his right to deny Sergio Vinatea’s powerful shot from distance.

But it was England who took the lead in the 32nd minute, when Fulham’s Joshua King won possession in Spain’s half and gave the pass to Lacey, who controlled well in the penalty area and calmly put the ball in with her right foot, despite of the recovering player’s best efforts. advocate.

Spain would have responded immediately if it had not been for another good save by the British, who deflected Vinatea’s shot that was heading towards the squad.

The Young Lions extended their lead soon after when captain Rigg headed in another good cross from McFarlane down the left from close range.

The second half started similar to the first as both teams looked to attack and it wasn’t long before the British were in action once again, this time saving Ousmane Diallo’s low shot.

But once again it was England who were more clinical as King picked up another assist as he slid in Mheuka and found the far corner with a low shot from inside the area.

Lacey almost made it 4-0 before Spain pulled one back. It looked like it would have to be something special to beat the British that night and that is just what José Antonio Reyes, son of the former Arsenal striker, achieved, when the Real Madrid youngster fired a long-range shot into the top corner. .

England were more ruthless than Spain that night and in the final minutes made it 4-1 when Lacey came in from the right side of the box and duly finished for her second of the match.

England: 1 Spike Brits (Manchester City), 3 Christian McFarlane (New York), 4 Joshua King (Fulham), 5 Freddie Simmonds (Brighton & Hove Albion), 6 Kian Noble (Manchester City) ©, 7 Shea Lacey (Manchester United), 8 Christopher Rigg (Sunderland) ©, 9 Shumaira Mheuka (Chelsea), 10 Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur), 12 Leke Drake (Manchester City), 16 Finlay Cartwright (Middlesbrough)

Substitutes: 20 Callum Olusesi (Tottenham Hotspur) for Cartwright 67, 14 Luca Fletcher (Manchester City) for Mheuka 67, 11 Jay Robinson (Southampton) for Moore 67, 15 Chukwuemeka Adiele (West Ham United) for McFarlane 67, 2 Jayce Fitzgerald (Manchester United ) ) for King 83, 17 Elliot Myles (Norwich City) for Lacey 90, 18 Femi Fapetu (Manchester City) for Rigg 90

Unused Substitutes: 13 Douglass Lukjanciks (Everton), 19 Souleymane Sidibe (Stoke City), 21 Jethro Medine (West Ham United), 22 Nicolas Michalski (Blackburn Rovers), 23 Joshua Hamilton (Leeds United)

Coach: Greg Lincoln

Goals: Shea Lacey 32 89, Chris Rigg 37, Shumaira Mheuka 54