Report: Czechia 1-3 England MU21s

England men’s under-21s got the defence of their UEFA U21 EURO title off to the perfect start with a 3-1 victory over Czechia.

Goals from Harvey Elliott and Jonathan Rowe either side of the break put England in control, before Charlie Cresswell’s header secured victory after Daniel Fila had pulled one back for Czechia.

It was a controlled performance from the Young Lions, who dominated possession in Slovakia and Lee Carsley’s side sit second in Group B on goal difference ahead of matches with Slovenia and Germany in Nitra.

England started brightly, with captain James McAtee firing wide from inside the box in the opening exchanges before Omari Hutchinson was the first to test Lukas Hornicek after a flowing move.

Czechia then had their own sight of goal after the ball was flashed across the face of goal by Martin Suchomel and Vaclav Sejk was just unable to connect at the back post.

Elliott then got in behind and bore down on goal, but his attempted cross was bravely stopped by Hornicek.

The game continued its end-to-end start as James Beadle was called into action for the first time to divert a Stepan Chaloupek header over the bar from a free kick. Patrik Vydra then saw his effort blocked when unmarked in the box.

England found the breakthrough six minutes before half time, as Elliott emphatically finished a strong attacking move from Carsley’s side.

Tino Livramento’s deflected cross looped across goal before James McAtee recycled the ball to Elliott, who drove low past Hornicek through a crowd of players.

Czechia almost hit back immediately from a corner, with Beadle again called into action before Jarell Quansah was able to scramble the ball away from the goalmouth.

Beadle was down to easily deny Sejk just a minute after the restart following loose play at the back, with the Czech striker only able to tamely curl into the hands of the England stopper.

The Young Three Lions doubled the lead just a few minutes later through Rowe’s deft flick at the near post.

Livramento and Hutchinson continued their strong connection down the left, and the former beat his man before delivering into the box and Rowe was able to divert a touch goalwards which Hornicek outstretched leg turned home.

But Czechia hit back almost immediately to halve the deficit, as Fila headed home a cross from Sejk just two minutes later.

England continued to push for a third goal and almost found a way through via substitute Ethan Nwaneri who almost made an immediate impact, but his effort was turned round the post.

A third came just a minute later, as Charlie Creswell headed home from an Alex Scott corner.

Czechia continued to press for a way back into the contest, and Beadle was required to stop Filip Vechta’s effort from the edge of the box as the clock ticked towards 90.

But England were able to see out victory in Dunajska Streda and secure a winning start to their UEFA U21 EURO 2025 campaign.

England: 1 James Beadle (Brighton & Hove Albion), 2 Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), 4 Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), 5 Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse), 8 Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), 9 Jonathan Rowe (Olympique Marseille), 10 James McAtee (Manchester City), 11 Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town) 14 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), 19 Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), 20 Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth)

Substitutes: 18 Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City) for Rowe 69’, 21 Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) for McAtee 69’, 17 Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa) for Hutchinson 78’, 23 Tyler Morton (Liverpool) for Anderson 85’, 6 Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough) for Scott 85’

Subs not used: 3 Ronnie Edwards (Southampton), 7 Tom Fellows (West Bromwich Albion), 12 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Bologna), 13 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), 15 CJ Egan-Riley (Burnley), 16 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), 22 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea)

Goals: Elliott, Rowe, Cresswell

Head coach: Lee Carsley

Czechia: 16 Lukas Hornicek; 4 Martin Suchomel, 5 Stepan Chaloupek, 6 Patrik Vydra, 7 Daniel Fila, 9 Vaclav Sejk, 13 Krystof Danek, 14 Vojtech Stransky, 18 Filip Prebsl, 19 Karel Spacil, 22 Matej Hadas

Substitutes: 10 Adam Karabec for Fila 65’, 12 Alexandr Sojka for Sejk, 21 Filip Vecheta for Danek

Subs not used: 1 Jiri Borek, 2 Jan Paluska, 3 Ondrej Kricfalusi, 8 Denis Halinsky, 11 Albert Labik, 15 Denis Visinsky, 17 Daniel Langhamer, 20 Josef Kozeluh, 23 Jan Koutny

Goals: Fila

Head Coach: Jan Suchoparek