England 2 Czech Republic 0: Second-half Ramsey and Smith-Rowe strikes get Three Lions U21s off to perfect Euros start
JACOB RAMSEY hoped the humility of this England side meant it would be different this time round at the Under-21 Euros.
And after the Aston Villa man’s composed finish helped the Young Lions finally see off their opening-night jitters, maybe it just might be.
Before tonight in Batumi, the dazzling Georgian city on the east coast of the Black Sea, England had not won an opening game of the Euros since 2009.
It was so long ago that Micah Richards and Lee Cattermole scored the goals in a 2-1 win over Finland for Stuart Pearce’s side in Sweden.
Fabrice Muamba, Gabby Agbonlahor and Theo Walcott – back with the Young Lions three years on from his shock World Cup inclusion by Sven Goran Eriksson – all started.
Six other group-openers – including one managed by Gareth Southgate – had come and gone since then without victory.
And such is the importance of the opening game in this rapid, two-week tournament, only one time out of those six Euros did England make it to the knockouts.
Ramsey claimed last week that this crop, managed by former Republic of Ireland star Lee Carsley, had a more humble side than teams in years gone by.
And that that could be the key to ending England’s seemingly never-ending series of disappointments at a tournament they had not won since 1984.
Fittingly, Ramsey was the man to make the breakthrough in a tight game where both sides fluffed good chances in the first half, finding the corner two minutes into the second period.
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Emile Smith Rowe rapped things up right at the death when fellow sub Cameron Archer teed him up for a tap-in.
It provided the ideal start for boss Carsley, who was dealt a blow last month when his main centre-forward Flo Balogun – scorer of two goals against the Czechs in November 2021 – switched allegiances to the USA.
With back-up Rhian Brewster ruled out through injury, it left the Under-21s chief with few natural centre-forward options.
He ended up taking just one to this tournament in Cameron Archer.
But the Aston Villa kid was always likely to be a sub and it was Anthony Gordon who was deployed down the middle here.
Newcastle’s £40million January buy did his best but it was clear the role was unfamiliar to him as England lacked a cutting edge up top.
They did still manage to make chances though in a lively first half which somehow ended up goalless.
The best of them fell to the lively Noni Madueke, who struck the crossbar from distance in the opening minutes.
But the Chelsea winger could not quite find that killer instinct as he was first denied by a fine stop from Czech keeper Vitezslav Jaros – on loan from Liverpool at Stockport this term – at close range.
Madueke then fluffed his best opportunity when played through by Gordon, being put off by a last-ditch challenge from Martin Vitik who celebrated the ball going out for a goal-kick like he had scored.
England may have been unlucky not to net, but they were also very fortunate to keep the ball out of theirs in the first period.
The Czechs looked a far more competent, hungry outfit than the ones that had lost twice to Carsley’s men in qualifying.
And in forward Vasil Kusej, they possessed a willing and direct runner who should have had at least one goal to his name.
He somehow was not deemed offside as he raced past the England backline but then fired into the side netting.
Then, after Morgan Gibbs-White had sloppily lost possession, Kusej weaved past the defence down the left, cut in and fired towards the far corner – only to be denied by James Trafford’s stunning stop.
England finally made one of their chances count two minutes into the second half.
Ramsey, coming in off the left, played a neat one-two with Gordon that played the Villa man clean through to apply a cool finish into the corner.
Gordon thought he had stroked home a second on 69 minutes when a Czech free-kick cannoned off Morgan Gibbs-White straight to Madueke, who crossed for the Magpies man.
The Czech players surrounded ref Horatiu Fesnic, claiming Gibbs-White was a mere two yards from the free-kick when it was taken – which he was.
The Romanian whistler eventually changed his mind and booked the bemused Gibbs-White.
Krystof Danek did provide a scare when heading narrowly over from a free-kick, but other than that, England were largely comfortable.
And the result was ensured deep into four minutes of stoppage time when Archer squared for Smith Rowe to fire home.
Under-21 Euro openers normally come with far more jeopardy for our starlets, and usually do not end well.
But despite this good start, with Israel and Germany to come, there is no chance of Carsley’s side getting ahead of themselves – if Ramsey’s character assessment is correct.