Report: Spain 1-3 England MU21s

England booked their ticket to the semi-finals of UEFA U21 EURO after downing Spain 3-1 in their closely-fought quarter-final encounter at Štadión Antona Malatinského.

The Young Lions raced into a two-goal lead early on after both captain James McAtee and Harvey Elliott both found the net from close range.

But Javi Guerra’s composed penalty brought Spain back into proceedings six minutes before half time, having earlier had a third-minute spot-kick overturned after a VAR check.

The second half saw both sides continue to compete with one another, before Elliot Anderson’s late penalty saw Lee Carsley’s men ultimately prevail.

England will now face Netherlands in Bratislava on Wednesday for a place in the final.

Spain started the stronger of the two teams during the opening exchanges and thought they had a penalty early on. Referee Simone Sozza pointed to the spot after adjudging Charlie Cresswell to have handled Diego López’s side-footed strike.

But Sozza overturned his decision after being sent to the pitch-side monitor by video assistant referee (VAR) Daniele Chiffi after reviewing the call.

England took full advantage of their reprieve and took the lead after ten minutes when McAtee powered the ball home from seven yards out.

Alex Scott’s corner was flicked on by Spanish skipper Beñat Turrientes at the near post, with the ball falling to his opposite number – who reacted quickest to the loose ball - after Cristhian Mosquera failed to clear his lines.

The reigning champions continued to press for a second and didn’t have to wait long to double their advantage.

Five minutes later, after an excellent driving run which started inside his own half, Jarell Quansah lashed a shot goal-bound from 25-yards.

Although Spanish goalkeeper Alejandro Iturbe was able to keep the ball out, he was unable to push the strike to safety and Elliott was on hand to finish from close range.

Iturbe then made a crucial interception shortly after to stop Tino Livramento’s dangerous cross being met by Omari Hutchinson inside the six-yard box.

After withstanding England’s pressure, the five-time winners got themselves back into proceedings via the penalty spot after Alberto Moleiro ghosted into the box and was brought down by Quansah’s dangling leg.

Guerra stepped up to take the spot-kick and calmly rolled the ball past James Beadle to half the deficit.

England nearly regained a two-goal buffer early in the second 45 minutes, but the impressive Jay Stansfield’s effort was crucially deflected over, before Cresswell’s back-post header could only find the side netting.

Beadle kept the Young Lions ahead on the hour mark with a find double save, twice keeping out Guerra before Cresswell cleared brilliantly from close to his own goal.

And as the game opened up in the later stages, Jack Hinshelwood came close to adding a third on 78 minutes but couldn’t keep his header down after meeting Anderson’s cross.

But Anderson’s cool penalty put the game to bed for England in the 94th minutes after Iturbe brought down Jonathan Rowe.

England: 1 James Beadle (Brighton & Hove Albion), 2 Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), 4 Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), 5 Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse), 10 James McAtee (c) (Manchester City), 11 Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town), 16 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), 18 Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City), 19 Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), 20 Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth), 23 Tyler Morton (Liverpool)

Substitutes: 8 Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) for Scott 52’, 9 Jonathan Rowe (Olympique Marseille) for Hutchinson 52’, 12 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Genoa) for Elliott 71’, 6 Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough) for McAtee 71’, 21 Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) for Stansfield 81’

Subs not used: 3 Ronnie Edwards (Southampton), 7 Tom Fellows (West Bromwich Albion), 13 Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), 14 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), 15 CJ Egan-Riley (Olympique Marseille), 17 Samuel Iling-Junior (Aston Villa), 22 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea)

Goals: McAtee 10’, Elliott 15’, Anderson 94’

Head coach: Lee Carsley

Spain: 1 Alejandro Iturbe, 2 Marc Pubill, 3 Cristhian Mosquera, 5 César Tárrega, 6 Javi Guerra, 7 Diego López, 8 Beñat Turrientes (c), 9 Mateo Joseph, 16 Juanlu Sánchez, 20 Alberto Moleiro, 22 Hugo Bueno

Substitutes: 11 Raúl Moro for Turrientes 57’, 14 Mikel Jauregizar for Sánchez 57’, 19 Roberto Fernández for López 70’, 10 Pablo Torre for Joseph 71’, 17 Jesús Rodríguez for Moleiro 78’

Subs not used: 4 Rafa Marín, 12 Andrés García, 13 Aitor Fraga, 15 Juanma Herzog, 21 Pablo Marín, 23 Pablo Cuñat

Goals: Guerra 39’

Head coach: Santi Denia