England Under-21s play out hard-fought draw in Sarajevo

England Under-21s were forced to settle for a point in Sarajevo in a hard-fought game with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday.

The Three Lions, who went down to 10 men for the last 20 minutes due to a red card for debutant Jack Stephens, endured a frustrating afternoon on a dry and difficult pitch.

And with a stubborn and physical Bosnia side intent on breaking up play at every opportunity, it meant Gareth Southgate’s side could never get into their usual tempo of quick passing football.

The closest either side came to a goal was in the opening 15 minutes, with chances at both ends in front of a sparse crowd at Sarajevo’s vast Olympic Stadium.

It was the visitors who had the first chance of a lively opening, when Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Dominic Solanke combined in the area to set up James Ward-Prowse, whose low effort was well saved by Kenan Piric in the Bosnian goal.

Calum Chambers leaps above Smail Prevljak to head clear

And Jordan Pickford’s first of few saves came in the seventh minute, when Haris Hajradinovoc stung his hands with a fierce left-footer.

At the other end, debutant Dominic Iorfa’s right-wing cross picked out Lewis Baker in the box but his header was straight at Piric for a straightforward catch.

England felt they should have been awarded a penalty too, when Solanke was unceremoniously barged to the floor by Aleksandar Jovicic whilst trying to control a flighted ball into the box.

Damir Sadikovic then blasted over the bar in the 15th minute, after Hajradinovic’s cross from the left was only half-cleared.

After such a frenetic start, the game settled into something of a stalemate with only a long distance shot from Baker five minutes before the break testing Piric.

Jordan Pickford kept a clean sheet in Sarajevo

Bosnia emerged for the second half with renewed vigour, but it was Ward-Prowse who came closest after neatly spinning on the edge of the box before firing narrowly wide of the post, as England went in search of an opener.

But Southgate’s men were dealt a big blow in the 72nd minute, as Stephens was sent off after picking up a second booking in space of 14 minutes for bringing down Marin Popovic.

But even with 10 men, England were looking to push on the front foot in search of a winner and they almost found it when substitute Cauley Woodrow headed a Ward-Prowse free-kick wide of the target.

The result means England remain unbeaten in Group 9 though and with Switzerland to come next in Brighton on Monday evening, the Three Lions will be ready to go again.

Bosnia-Herzegovina (4-5-1): 1 Kenan Piric (captain); 7 Kerim Memija, 6 Aleksandar Jovicic, 17 Sinisa Sanicanin, 3 Eldar Civic; 15 Main Popovic, 8 Damir Sadikovic, 10 Armin Cerimagic, 18 Ajdin Redzic, 16 Haris Hajradinovic; 20 Smail Prevljak.

Substitutes: 13 Dino Bajric for  Cerimagic 90.

Substitutes not used: 12 Nemanja Trkulja, 2 Josip Corluka, 4 Renato Gojkovic, 5 Milos Satara, 9 Kemal Festic, 19 Cazim Suljic. 

Head coach: Darko Nestorovic

England (4-4-2): 1 Jordan Pickford (Preston North End, loan from Sunderland); 2 Dominic Iorfa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), 5 Calum Chambers (Arsenal), 6 Jack Stephens (Middlesbrough, loan from Southampton), 3 Matt Targett (Southampton); 8 James Ward-Prowse (Southampton; captain), 4 Nathaniel Chalobah (Napoli, loan from Chelsea), 10 Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), 7 Lewis Baker (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea); 11 Dominic Solanke (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), 9 Chuba Akpom (Hull City, loan from Arsenal).

Substitutes: 16 Duncan Watmore (Sunderland) for Akpom 70, 15 Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion) for Loftus-Cheek 86, 18 Cauley Woodrow (Fulham) for Solanke 89.

Substitutes not used: 12 Ola Aina (Chelsea), 13 Joe Wildsmith (Sheffield Wednesday), 14 Solly March (Brighton & Hove Albion), 17 Demarai Gray (Birmingham City).

Head coach: Gareth Southgate.

Cautions: Nathaniel Chalobah 44, Jack Stephens 58 & 72, Calum Chambers 84

Red cards: Jack Stephens 72

Referee: Alexander Harkam (Austria)

Assistant referees: Andreas Witschnigg & Robert Steinacher (Austria)

Fourth official: Christoper Jaeger (Austria)