Report: England MU17s 0-1 Lithuania

England men’s under-17s suffered a setback in Scotland, after narrowly losing against Lithuania in their second UEFA U17 EURO qualifying game.

The Young Lions, who lost their first game against Scotland by the same scoreline earlier in the week, were undone by a first-half goal in Cumbernauld and now go into their final game against Sweden on Monday (3pm GMT) knowing they can no longer qualify for the next stage.

Lithuania went ahead after 17 minutes, when Tomas Jonayla scored with a free-kick to put them ahead and give themselves a lead to look after.

England looked to try and play their way back into the game, but with Lithuania holding the advantage, they made the game difficult and the Young Lions struggled to garner any momentum in the game with a number of stoppages coupled with a low-block defence and midfield from Lithuania.

As the game wore on, England continued to press in search of an equaliser and they were almost rewarded in the final stages when a brilliant piece of skill took substitute Malik Olayiwola into the box. His low cross was hit first-time by Oliver Boast, only to cannon back off the post before being scrambled away to safety.

The Young Lions will be back in action during the November international window with fixtures to be confirmed.
 
England: 1 George Mair (Newcastle United), 3 Calvin Diakite (Chelsea), 7 Joél Drakes-Thomas (Crystal Palace), 8 Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (Chelsea), 10 Sam Alabi (Newcastle United) (c), 12 Archie Thornton (Manchester City), 14 Hugo De Lisle (Leicester City), 15 Kyran Thompson (Arsenal), 16 Reuben Gokah (Everton), 17 Josiah King (Arsenal), 19 Oliver Boast (Tottenham Hotspur).

Substitutes: 9 Brian Madjo (FC Metz) for Thompson 54, 6 Marlow Barrett (Manchester City) for Gokah 69, 2 Oscar Sandiford (Tottenham Hotspur) for King 69, 5 Marli Salmon (Arsenal) for Thornton 69, 20 Malik Olayiwola (Everton) for De Lisle 84

Substitutes not used: 13 Isaac Collinson (Chelsea)

Head coach: Liam Bramley