Report: England WU17s 8-0 Croatia

England women’s under-17s produced an outstanding performance to defeat Croatia 8-0 in their final UEFA Under-17 European Championship qualifier.

Lexi Potter, Maddy Earl, Evie Rabjohn, Michelle Agyemang, Jemima Dahou and Brooke Aspin all got their name on the scoresheet but it wasn’t to be enough to secure qualification for this summer’s EUROs Finals.

Only one team from each of the seven Round 2 qualifying groups will progress to the eight-team Finals this summer alongside hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With both France and Poland beating Croatia 5-0, the Young Lionesses knew they needed a big win today if there were to stand a chance of qualifying.

France were three points and six goals better off than England, with Poland level on points but had scored four goals more.

So a draw or victory for France would ensure they progress, whereas a win for Poland would give the Young Lionesses a chance of making the Finals.

In the end, France were 6-1 winners against Poland to ensure they finished top of the group and qualified but the Young Lionesses gave themselves the best chance of progressing with an impressive victory.

England opened the scoring after just eight minutes through Chelsea’s Potter, after she was set up by Ava Baker.

The Leicester City forward was the provider once again when the Young Lionesses doubled their advantage just after the quarter of an hour mark through Arsenal forward Earl.

Salomon’s side created a host of chances in the first half but had to wait until the 27th minute for their third goal, when Lois Marley-Paraskevas set up Potter for her second of the game.

WU17s then scored three goals in seven minutes before the break.

Captain Rabjohn made it 4-0 with a free-kick on 40 minutes, before Potter was brought down in the penalty area and Arsenal’s Agyemang dispatched the spot-kick. 

Agyemang then grabbed a second just two minutes later in first-half injury-time after being set up by Dahou.

And the Manchester City midfielder got a goal of her own five minutes after the restart from the penalty spot, following a foul on Grace Ede.

Agyemang almost grabbed a hat-trick when her header from Katie Ramsden’s cross forced a good save but England had to wait until the 89th minute for their eighth goal from substitute Aspin.

England: 1 Grace Pilling (Manchester City); 6 Ria Bose (Chelsea), 15 Jessica Osborne (Florida Elite Soccer Academy), 17 Evie Rabjohn (Aston Villa) ©, 7 Grace Ede (Sunderland); 14 Lois Marley-Paraskevas (Manchester City), 8 Jemima Dahou (Manchester City), 16 Lexi Potter (Chelsea); 4 Ava Baker (Leicester City), 10 Maddy Earl (Arsenal), 2 Michelle Agyemang (Arsenal)

Substitutes: 18 Katie Ramsden (Leeds United) for Bose 2, 12 Shauna Guyatt (Chelsea) for Baker 46, 3 Brooke Aspin (Bristol City) for Rabjohn 61, 5 Keira Barry (Manchester United) for Earl 61, 9 Mia Enderby (Sheffield United) for Agyemang 61

Substitutes not used: 13 Hannah Poulter (Reading), 20 Mackenzie Smith (Leicester City)

Goals: Lexi Potter 8, 27, Maddy Earl 16, Evie Rabjohn 40, Michelle Agyemang 44 (p), 45+2, Jemima Dahou 50 (p), Brooke Aspin 89

Head coach: John Salomon