England U19s battle to hold hosts Germany to a draw

The Young Lions had led through Bradley Fewster for over half an hour, had the better of the chances and Fewster missed a penalty, but were ultimately held to a stalemate by a resilient German side.

After a quiet opening period of the game England created the first meaningful chance on 11 minutes.

Patrick Roberts slipped in full-back Ben Chilwell down the left and Charlie Colkett was inches away from turning home the cross.

Four minutes later Leroy Sane must have thought he was in the clear for Germany from Lucas Cueto’s delightful pass but a superb last-ditch challenge from Chilwell denied the Schalke man an effort on goal.

English hearts were in mouths on 21 minutes as Timo Werner surged to the by-line and cut back for Cueto whose shot was deflected into the side netting.

Brendan Galloway reaches for the ball

From the resulting corner-kick Werner managed a looping header which seemed to hang in the air for an age before thumping back off Angus Gunn’s crossbar.

But England weathered the German storm well and grabbed the lead on 35 minutes.

Mahmoud Dahoud lingered too long in the middle of the park and Dele Alli was on him in a flash to dispossess the Monchengladbach player.

The MK Dons midfielder fed Middlesbrough’s Fewster who made no mistake slotting home for 1-0.

That was enough to see the Young Lions lead at the break and following a raft of German changes at the interval the second period was slow to get going.

However, when the new-look Germany side did find their feet they did so to devastating effect.

Half-time substitute Boubacar Barry surged past Chilwell on 59 minutes before laying the ball on a plate for Werner who rolled home from five yards.

England nearly retook the lead within five minutes though. Manchester City defender Ashley Smith-Brown smartly stepped inside his full-back and curled a delicious shot which beat Marius Funk but not the post.

Ben Chilwell chases Leroy Sana

Then, as the ball pinged back off the upright Ruben Loftus-Cheek saw his effort well saved by the German stopper.

The hosts were to look to their keeper again on 69 minutes. Bryn Morris’ wonderful pass dissected the German defence and set Bradley Fewster clear.

Steffan Nkansah desperately tried to get back at Fewster but only managed to bring the striker down for a clear penalty.

But Funk got his defender out of jail with a good stop diving full length to palm away Fewster’s spot-kick.

The two goalkeepers were suddenly very much involved and after Werner played in Devante Parker a minute later, Gunn showed good reflexes to palm his powerful effort away.

England had a wonderful chance to win the game with 10 minutes to play as Demarai Gray played the ball into Loftus-Cheek, whose fabulous turn bamboozled the German defence, but the Chelsea man’s finish did not match as he struck just wide.

England's starting XI before kick-off

And on 86 minutes England almost had the most unlikely of heroes as centre-half Brendan Galloway steamed forward from the back to latch onto Brandon Barker’s chipped pass but the Everton man could not quite find the finish as he lifted the ball over the bar.

There was a big chance for Germany to grab a late winner as the ball broke for Patrick Pflucke from Joseph Gomez’s scuffed clearance but the Mainz player fluffed his lines. 

England (4-3-3): 1 Angus Gunn (Manchester City); 2 Ashley Smith-Brown (Manchester City), 5 Joseph Gomez (Charlton Athletic), 6 Brendan Galloway (Everton), 3 Ben Chilwell (Leicester City; 4 Bryn Morris (Middlesbrough), 8 Dele Alli MK Dons), 10 Charlie Colkett (Chelsea); 7 Alex  Kiwomya (Chelsea), 11 Patrick Roberts (Fulham), 9 Bradley Fewster (Middlesbrough).

Subsititutes: 14 Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) for 10 Colkett, 18 Brandon Barker (Manchester City) for Roberts 59, 17 Demarai Gray (Birmingham City) for Kiwomya 59, 12 Josh Aina (Chelsea) for Chilwell 59, 15 Jack Whatmough (Portsmouth) for Smith-Brown 69, 16 Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) for Alli 69.

Subs not used: 13 Ted Smith (Southend) 

Bookings: Morris 81

Goals: Fewster 35

Germany (4-3-3): 1 Marius Funk (VFB Stuttgart); 2 Timo Baumgartl (VFB Stuttgart), 3 Jonas Fohrenbach (SC Frieberg), 4 Niko Kijewski (Eintracht Braunschweig), 5 Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig); 13, Max Christiansen (Hansa Rostock), 14 Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Monchengladbach), 16 Mart Ristl (VFB Stuttgart); 17 Leroy Sane (Shalke 04), 19 Lucas Cueto (FC Koln), 24 Timo Werner (VFB Stuttgart)

Substitutes: 9 Nadiem Amiri (Hoffenheim) for 13 Christiansen 45, 10 Donis Avdijaj (Shalke 04) for 4 Kijewski, 7 Steffen Nkansah (Borussia Monchengladbach) for Klostermann 45, 21 Patrick Pflucke (Mainz 05) for Sane 45, 11 Boubacar Barry (Karlsruher) for Dahoud 45, 15 Devante Parker (Mainz 05) for Christiansen 45, 6 Angelo Mayer (1860 Munich) for 19 Cueto 45, 22 Aaron Seydel (Mainz 05) for 24 Werner 69, 18 Pascal Stenzel (Borussia Dortmund) for 16 Ristl 69

Subs not used 23 Ralf Husic (Werder Bremen), 6 Angelo Mayer (1860 Munich), 8 Yanni Regasel (Hertha BSC), 12 Nils Korber (Hertha BSC), 20 Sinan Kurt (Bayern Munich)

Goals Werner 69