England Under-20s made it two wins from two games this week with an impressive 3-1 win over Germany, and interim head coach Paul Williams admits he could not have asked for more from his team.
Germany opened the scoring in Huddersfield through Philipp Ochs, but Ademola Lookman equalised before Dominic Calvert-Lewin took the game away from the visitors with a strike in each half.
And though England came under pressure at the end, they now head into Monday’s final fixture against the USA in Rochdale with the chance of a tournament clean sweep.
England U20s 3-1 Germany
U20 International Tournament
Friday 7 October 2016
John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield
"I thought that some of the individual performances on show were absolutely fantastic, especially in the first half so I'm really pleased for the lads," said Williams. "We needed to make sure we passed the ball quickly and we did that all game.
"I could honestly go through the whole team talk about their performances. I thought that [goalkeeper] Dean Henderson had a great game with that double save at the end and all of the forward players expressed themselves.
"This is a talented group. We're in a good position in the tournament and now the players have an incentive to try and push for a place at the World Cup."
England got off to a bad start when they gave away a free-kick after just three minutes. Ochs lined up from 25 yards out and his dipping effort went over the wall, leaving Henderson rooted to the spot.
But Germany’s lead did not last long after England capitalised on a loose pass in the midfield.
England Under-20s line-up to face Germany in Huddersfield
Dominic Solanke took the ball through the middle and after a passing move, debutant Ovie Ejaria found Lookman in the six-yard area, who squeezed his shot past Florian Muller from a tight angle.
Lookman was involved again shortly afterward as the Charlton Athletic forward showed great tenacity to breakaway and release Calvert-Lewin, who tucked home from the edge of the area with 23 minutes gone.
Everton’s Calvert-Lewin then secured victory for England with 15 minutes to go, after Germany failed to clear their lines from a cross with his first-time shot finding the bottom right-hand corner.
England Under-20s: 13 Dean Henderson (Manchester United); 3 Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), 5 Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), 6 Taylor Moore (Bristol City) (c); 16 Callum Connolly (Coventry City), 4 Lewis Cook (Bournemouth), 18 Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal); 21 Ovie Ejaria (Liverpool FC), 8 Ademola Lookman (Charlton Atheltic), 10 Dominic Solanke (Arsenal); 24 Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
Substitutes: 11 Harrison Chapman (Middlesbrough) for Solanke 55, 19 Axel Tuanzebe (Manchester United) for Lewis Cook 72.
U20s striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin breaks past two Germany defenders
Substitutes not used: 1 Luke Southwood (Reading), 2 Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), 7 Patrick Roberts (Manchester City), 9 Adam Armstrong (Newcastle), 12 Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), 14 Reece Oxford (West Ham), 15 Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), 17 Tafari Moore (Arsenal), 20 Kieran Dowell (Everton), 23 Louis Reed (Sheffield United), 25 Callum Roberts (Newcastle).
Interim head coach: Paul Williams
Goals: Ademola Lookman 14; Dominic Calvert-Lewin 23, 72
Germany: 1 Florian Muller; 4 Jannes-Kilian Horn, 5 Benedikt Gimber, 6 Gino Fechner, 14 Lars Dietz, 20 Robin Tim Becker; 10 Philipp Ochs, 16 David Sauerland, 17 Maximilian Thalhammer, 19 Anton Donkor; 9 Fabian Reese
Substitutes: 4 Tsly William Ndenge for Mittelstadt 70, 13 Jonas Arweiler for Sauerland 70
Substitutes not used: 2 Phil Neumann, 7 Emmanuel Iyoha, 8 Amara Conde, 11 Maximilian Mittlestadt, 12 Florian Kastenmeier, 15 Dominik Schad, 18 Phillip Tietz, 21 Malcolm Badu, 23 Nikolai Rehnen
Head coach: Guido Streichsbier
Goal: Philipp Ochs 3
FATV highlights: England U20s 3-1 Germany
