Report: England MU21s 0-0 Slovenia

England maintained their unbeaten start to their UEFA U21 EURO campaign with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Slovenia at Štadión pod Zoborom.

Harvey Elliott came closest to scoring when he hit the post during the second half, in a game which saw both goalkeepers produce fine saves to maintain their respective clean sheets.

England now move onto four points in Group B and know one more against Germany in their next outing on Wednesday will ensure their qualification to the knockout stages.

Slovenia made the brighter start to the game in Nitra as Svit Seslar’s wicked free kick from the right caused problems at the front post early on.

Minutes later, the Slovenia No. 10 ’s ambitious overhead kick attempt landed just over the bar before Tio Cipot later latched onto a flick-on from Seslar’s corner and forced a good save out of James Beadle.

England’s first chance of the half fell to James McAtee on 21 minutes, but the 22 year old dragged his shot wide after the ball broke to him in the box following Jonathan Rowe’s driving run.

Rowe again caused Slovenia problems just before the half-hour mark as he got in behind to reach the byline, but Ethan Nwaneri couldn’t turn home the low fizzing cross at the back post.

Slovenia continued to provide a threat going forward as Seslar’s strike from 25-yards needed Beadle to tip the ball over.

England almost broke the deadlock inside the final ten minutes when Elliot Anderson’s flighted ball found an advancing Elliott in the box, but the Liverpool player saw his guided effort rebound back infield off the far post as the first half finished goalless.

The opening salvo of the second half saw McAtee presented with a glorious chance to give Lee Carsley’s side the lead, but saw his close-range effort thwarted by Martin Turk before stabbing his second attempt wide of the post.

The opportunity came after Anderson produced another delightful longball forward with Tino Livramento doing well to cross the ball into McAtee’s path.

Slovenia responded almost immediately with a well-worked move of their own, but Beadle was equal to Seslar’s fierce strike from the edge of the box.

Nwaneri showed promise when he cut back inside from the right midway through the half but couldn’t keep his shot on target, and Turk showed bravery when diving low at the feet of substitute Jay Stansfield to deny the Birmingham City forward as the game entered the final ten minutes with the score still 0-0.

England nearly breached the Slovenia goal twice late on, both chances falling to Elliott, but he couldn’t keep his shot down after being picked out inside the box by Stansfield before heading another opportunity over soon after.

Two more substitutes nearly won the game for England in added time as Brooke Norton-Cuffy's pinpoint cross was met by the head of Jack Hinshelwood, but Turk produced a great save to keep the game level.

The match ultimately ended as it had begun with England now turning their attentions to Germany who they play in their final match of the group stages on Wednesday.

England: 1 James Beadle (Brighton & Hove Albion), 2 Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), 4 Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), 5 Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse), 6 Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough), 8 Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), 9 Jonathan Rowe (Olympique Marseille), 10 James McAtee (Manchester City), 14 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), 19 Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), 21 Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)

Substitutes: 11 Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town) for Rowe 64’, 12 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Genoa) for Anderson 64’, 16 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion) for Gray 64’, 18 Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City) for Hackney 72’, 23 Tyler Morton (Liverpool) for Nwaneri 72’

Subs not used: 3 Ronnie Edwards (Southampton), 7 Tom Fellows (West Bromwich Albion), 13 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), 15 CJ Egan-Riley (Olympique Marseille), 17 Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa), 20 Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth), 22 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea)

Head coach: Lee Carsley

Slovenia: 1 Martin Turk, 2 Mitja Ilenic, 3 Srdjan Kuzmic, 5 Lovro Golic, 6 Zan Jevsenak, 7 Tjas Begic, 8 Adrian Zeljkovic, 9 Tio Cipot, 10 Svit Seslar, 18 Marko Brest, 19 Enrik Ostrc

Substitutes: 20 Jost Pisek for Ostrc 66’, 11 Dino Kojic for Cipot 75’, 21 Jaka Cuber Potocnik for Tjas Begic 75’, 16 Luka Topalovic for Golic 87’,

Subs not used: 4 Relja Obric, 12 Zan-Luk Leban, 13 Edvin Krupic, 14 Marcel Lorber, 15 Sandro Jovanovic, 17 Martin Pecar, 21 Jaka Cuber Potocnik, 22 Lovro Stubljar, 23 Nino Milic

Head Coach: Andrej Razdrh