The Young Lions celebrate Lukas Nmecha's opening goal in Colchester
England U20s made a winning end to 2018 with a 2-0 victory over Germany in front of a sell-out crowd in Colchester.
Two second-half goals in the space of three minutes from Lukas Nmecha and Joe Willock proved enough to win what had been a tight game.
In the first half, England were really tested by the visitors, with Aaron Ramsdale forced into a string of saves with one in particular catching the eye in the 13th minute as he scooped the ball out of the top corner at full stretch.
The starting line-up for Thursday's game with Germany in Colchester
The Young Lions had their moments though and debutant Grady Diangana had two half-chances with one shot into the side netting and another straight at the German keeper.
With the scores level at the break, England emerged for the second half with more intent and Paul Simpson responded with a triple substitution just after the hour mark.
It had an instant impact as England opened the scoring in the 66th minute when Willock finished clinically at the near post.
And it was one of the subs who doubled the advantage three minutes later as Nmecha was presented with a simple finish following a pass across goal from Eddie Nketiah to send the impressive crowd home happy.
Nmecha celebrates his goal, which put the Young Lions 2-0 up
England U20s: 1 Aaron Ramsdale (AFC Bournemouth), 2 Reece James (Wigan Athletic, loan from Chelsea), 3 Adam Lewis (Liverpool), 4 Sam Field (West Bromwich Albion), 5 Easah Suliman (Emmen, loan from Aston Villa), 6 Trevoh Chalobah (Ipswich Town, loan from Chelsea) (C), 7 Grady Diangana (West Ham United), 8 Joe Willock (Arsenal), 9 Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), 10 Andre Dozzell (Ipswich Town), 11 Elliot Embleton (Grimsby Town, loan from Sunderland)
Substitutes: 17 Marcus Tavernier (Middlesbrough) for Dozzell 63, 12 Lukas Nmecha (Preston North End, loan from Chelsea) for Embleton 63, 16 Ronaldo Vieira (Sampdoria) for Field 63, 18 Eberechi Eze (Queens Park Rangers) for Diangana 72, 15 Flynn Downes (Ipswich Town) for Willock 89
England captain Trevoh Chalobah in battle with his opposite number from Germany
Substitutes not used: 13 Nathan Trott (West Ham United), 14 Ben Wilmot (Watford), 19 Kyle Edwards (West Bromwich Albion), 20 Tom Edwards (Stoke City), 22 Will Huffer (Leeds United)
Head coach: Paul Simpson
Goals: Joe Willock 66, Lukas Nmecha 69
