Report: England MU18s 2-2 France

England men’s under-18s capped off the international window with a 2-2 draw against France in an international match at St. George’s Park.

Neil Ryan’s side were victors over their opponents – who will also be heading to Qatar for the FIFA U17 World Cup in November, along with England – on Thursday night but conceded two quickfire goals in first-half stoppage time through Melvin Gomes da Veiga and Antoine Valero.

Second-half strikes from Igor Tyjon and Reigan Heskey levelled the scoreline in an entertaining encounter.

The first chance of the game came in the fourth minute through Olympique Lyonnais’ Alejandro Rodriguez, but his effort was comfortably collected by Max Edgar Chabot in the France goal.

Chabot gathered the ball again a few minutes later as the Young Lions worked the play well. Tottenham Hotspur forward Tynan Thompson pulled the ball towards Efe Ibrahim, who swept it straight at the France goalkeeper.

With eleven minutes gone, England goalkeeper Lanre Awausu was called into action, parrying a swerving Antoine Valero effort behind for a corner, which Ryan’s side defended well.

The hosts thought they had put themselves ahead just after the quarter-hour mark as Dante Headley’s driven cross was met by Chelsea’s Chizaram Ezenwata, but his celebrations were halted by the linesman’s offside flag.

The Young Lions kept threatening to break the deadlock and almost did as a string of quick passes between Landon Emenalo and Ibrahim unlocked the away defence before the ball dropped to the feet of Rodriguez, who had his shot bravely blocked by the visitors’ defence.

However, the encounter was halted as France’s Tyris Dong suffered an injury that forced him to be stretched off as a lengthy period of stoppage time followed.

In the dying minutes of the first half, France hit the hosts for double. Gomes da Veiga advanced down the right-hand side and bundled home an effort past Awesu to give the away team the lead against the run of play.

Valero made it 2-0 seconds later as a long ball over the top of the Young Lions’ defence found his galloping run before the Olympique Marseille forward slotted the ball past Awesu to send Les Bleuets into the interval with the lead.

Neil Ryan made a flurry of changes at the break as England looked to start the second half on the front foot.

However, the best chance of the opening exchanges fell to France in the 55th minute. Gomes da Veiga and Valero almost combined as the former delivered a pacey cross into the striker, which was inches from meeting the his boot.

Another host of changes followed, and England were offered a lifeline as they were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute.

Blackburn Rovers’ Igor Tyjon stepped up and coolly slotted the ball past Chabot to set up an exciting final 20 minutes.

The Young Lions found an equaliser just minutes later as Benjamin Casey’s cut-back found Reigan Heskey and the Manchester City forward found the back of the net with a convincing finish from six yards out.

A plethora of opportunities fell for England, but Les Bleuets held on for a draw at St. George’s Park.

England: 1 Lanre Awesu (West Ham United), 2 Dante Headley (Manchester City), 3 Landon Emenalo (Chelsea), 4 Ife Ibrahim (Arsenal), 5 Elijah Upson (Tottenham Hotspur), 6 Kaden Braithwaite (Manchester City), 7 Bradley Burrowes (Aston Villa), 8 Reggie Walsh (Chelsea), 9 Alejandro Rodriguez (Olympique Lyonnais), 10 Chizaram Ezenwata (Chelsea), 11 Tynan Thompson (Tottenham Hotspur)

Substitutes: 12 Wesley Okoduwa (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for Headley 63’, 13 Jack Porter (Arsenal) for Awesu 46’, 14 Chinaza Nwosu (Nottingham Forest) for Walsh 63’, 15 Jun’ai Byfield (Tottenham Hotspur) for Elijah Upson 75’, 16 Freddie Simmonds (Brighton & Hove Albion) for Braithwaite 63’, 17 Bendito Mantato (Manchester United) for Emenalo 63’, 19 Benjamin Casey (Crystal Palace) for Rodriguez 46’, 20 Igor Tyjon (Blackburn Rovers) for Ezenwata 46’, 21 Reigan Heskey (Manchester City) for Thompson 63’, 23 Ryan McAidoo (Manchester City) for Bradley Burrowes 63’, 24 Harrison Miles (Manchester City) for Ibrahim 46’

Substitutes not used: 18 Seth Ridgeon (Fulham)

Head coach: Neil Ryan

Goals: Tyjon 70’, Heskey 78’