England Under-21s began their bid for Under-21 Euro 2023 glory in perfect fashion with an opening 2-0 win over Czech Republic Under-21s in Group C.
Having absorbed a significant amount of pressure in the first half, Lee Carsley's charges broke the deadlock through Jacob Ramsey before Emile Smith Rowe put the icing on the cake with seconds remaining at the Adjarabet Arena.
Despite seeing a mere 26% of the ball in the opening 45 and facing several waves of England attacks, the Czechs fashioned plenty of chances to break the deadlock themselves and headed into the break with more shots on goal compared to Carsley's crop.
After a third-minute strike from Noni Madueke which cannoned off the bar, Vaclav Sejk and Vasil Kusej both hit the side netting for the Czech Republic, before the latter forced a smart save from James Trafford five minutes before the break.
It would seemingly only be a matter of time before the net bulged, and it was first blood to England just two minutes into the second half, as the lively Anthony Gordon played a slick one-two with Ramsey - delicately flicking the ball back to the Aston Villa man, who charged into the box and picked out the bottom corner with aplomb.
England's opener was just reward for Gordon's endeavours in particular, and there was a hint of a penalty shout when Max Aarons took a tumble inside the box in the 56th minute, but the Norwich City man was instead booked for diving.
Carsley's men briefly thought that they had doubled their lead in the 69th minute, as Gordon went from provider to goalscorer by producing a neat finish across goal from Madueke's low cross.
However, the strike was disallowed, as England's counter-attack began from a Czech Republic free kick that was blocked by Morgan Gibbs-White, who was deemed to have been too close to the ball.
As Jan Suchoparek's men pushed for an equaliser in the dying embers, Krystof Danek sent a header towards goal in the 77th minute from a free kick, but his attempt was just a fraction too high.
England were not resting on their laurels as the clock ticked down, though, and in the fourth minute of added time, the Young Lions put the tie to bed with what proved to be the final kick of the game.
With the Czech Republic committing several men forward and ultimately losing the ball, England were presented with a four-on-three as Cameron Archer advanced into the box from the left flank, and the 21-year-old squared for the arriving Smith Rowe to tap home into an empty net.
Thanks to Germany and Israel's 1-1 draw in the other game, England are already sitting pretty at the top of Group C, and the Young Lions are next in action against the latter nation on Sunday. body check tags ::
