England MU19s come from behind to draw in Germany

England men’s under-19s were unable to find a winner in Germany after a hugely entertaining second half ended 1-1.

Impressive work from both teams out of possession meant the opening 45 minutes in Bad Durrheim ended goalless and with few chances of note.

However, that changed in the second period as both teams created a number of good opportunities.

The breakthrough came just before the hour mark and in acrobatic fashion as Bayern Munich forward Armindo Sieb scored with an overhead kick.

But the lead was to last only three minutes as a combination of Sheffield United’s Daniel Jebbison and Tottenham Hotspur’s Dane Scarlett bundled the ball home after good work from Aston Villa midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka.

The contest came four days after the MU19s kicked off their season with 2-0 victory over Italy at St. George’s Park, thanks to a Dane Scarlett penalty and a goal from Chelsea striker Jude Soonsup-Bell.

The two friendlies were to help Ian Foster’s side ahead of their games against group hosts Sweden, Andorra and Switzerland in their first UEFA U19 EURO qualifying games in November, with this season's U19 EURO Finals being held in Slovakia next summer.

Germany started the brighter on Monday afternoon and could have opened the scoring after just six minutes. Chelsea centre back Bashir Humphreys gave the ball away cheaply just outside his own area and goalkeeper Filip Marschall was forced to save low down to his left to deny Goktan Gurpuz and then Luke Mbete-Tabu made an excellent last-ditch block to stop the rebound.

The impressive intensity of the pressing from both sides meant neither were given the time to build through phases of play.

It took until the 38th minute for another clear-cut chance, as fine wing play from England’s Sam Edozie saw the Manchester City youngster lay the ball off to James Balagizi, but the Liverpool forward’s shot from close to the penalty spot lacked the power to trouble Jonas Urbig in goal.

Like the first, the second period started with the home side on top. Germany had two shots blocked, Marschall saved a low drive and Torben Rhein sent an effort over the bar in the opening minutes following the restart.

Germany then took the lead just before the hour mark from a corner, as Everton’s Reece Welch was unable to direct his clearance away from danger and Bayern Munich’s Sieb scored an acrobatic overhead kick from around eight yards out.

Foster immediately made a quartet of changes and two of those were involved in the equaliser just three minutes later.

Aston Villa midfielder Chukwuemeka burst into the box on the byline and his pull back from the left appeared to be turned in by Jebbison, although replacement Scarlett was also there when the ball was diverted into the back of the net from close range.

Both teams had efforts on goal as the second half continued, with Spurs midfielder Nile John going close with a 20-yard strike after a particularly impressive run from midfield, but in the end the game ended 1-1. 

England: 1 Filip Marschall (Aston Villa), 2 Conrad Egan-Riley (Manchester City), 3 Luke Mbete-Tabu (Manchester City), 4 Nile John (Tottenham Hotspur), 5 Bashir Humphreys (Chelsea), 6 Reece Welch (Everton), 7 Sam Edozie (Manchester City), 8 Alfie Devine (Tottenham Hotspur), 9 Daniel Jebbison (Sheffield United), 10 James Balagizi (Liverpool), 11 James Norris (Liverpool)

Substitutes: 12 Daniel Oyegoke (Brentford) for Egan-Riley 60, 14 Carney Chukwuemeka (Aston Villa) for Devine 60, 17 Harvey Vale (Chelsea) for Norris 60, 19 Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotspur) for Edozie 60, 16 Jamal Baptiste (West Ham United) for Welch 70, 21 Callum Doyle (Sunderland, loan from Manchester City) for Mbete-Tabu 70, 18 Alex Scott (Bristol City) for Balagizi 84, 20 Shola Shoretire (Manchester United) for John 84

Subs not used: 13 Matthew Cox (Brentford), 15 Will Fish (Stockport County, loan from Manchester United), 21 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea)

Head coach: Ian Foster

Goals: Armindo Sieb 59, Daniel Jebbison 62