BLOG - 2014 European Under-17 Championship: Portugal 0-2 England - Match Report

Portugal 0-2 England - Semi Final

England beat Portugal 2-0 to reach the final of the European U-17 Championships.

England began the match controlling the possession but failed to create clear chances. After they began showing signs of nerves at the back with weak clearances from Taylor Moore, Freddie Woodman and Joe Gomez, the Portuguese confidence began to increase and within a spell of a few minutes they should have gone ahead due to weak English defending but failed to do so through bad luck and poor finishing.

Diogo Goncalves had the first chance as Gomez gave the ball away and his low central shot was saved by Woodman's legs. Sanches then played through Goncalves, who was given too much space by Tafari Moore, and his shot from a tight angle rebounded off the post before Silva was allowed to run free by Taylor Moore pushing up too high and he slashed wide.

Portugal were now controlling the midfield with Neves, Rodgrigues, Sanches and Goncalves dominating Ryan Ledson and Lewis Cook and they hit the post again when Ruben Neves picked up a headed clearance from a corner and struck the crossbar with a powerful drive. As has often been the case this season, England didn't display the mental strength to change their performance with their midfield being over-run and their central defenders displaying nerves on the ball.

After half an hour they did begin to gain a better hold in the match as the Portuguese slackened off, with Cook becoming more prominent in midfield and they almost scored their only real chance in the half when Jonjoe Kenny's free kick was glanced just wide by Dominic Solanke. There was still time for Portugal to get a first half hat-trick of woodwork strikes when Goncalves shifted the ball infield and arced a shot onto the far post and into Woodman's arms, with Portugal going into half time feeling hard done by not to be leading.

England were clearly told to raise the their tempo when in possession and began the half far more confidently, swiftly moving the ball. A Patrick Roberts run down the left set up Joshua Onomah, who had come on in the first half for the injured Adam Armstrong, to scoop over the bar.

The game was far more tactically balanced with the English midfield mirroring the Portuguese in sitting deep and making themselves hard to break down rather than their open first half performance. The Portuguese were no longer creating chances, though were still shading the midfield battle, where Ledson struggled technically under the tight pressing all match and lacking the pace to patrol the Portuguese attacks.

The opening goal came as Taylor Moore brought the ball out of defence and his through ball picked out the diagonal run of Solanke coming in from the right. He controlled the ball, stretching for it with his left foot, and then beautifully clipped over the goalkeeper with his right to display his capacity for top-class finishing even if his impact on general play had been limited.

The Portuguese controlled possession from there on in but only produced half-chances against an England side that began to sit back on their lead, although substitute winger Buta gave Tafari Moore a run-around until the latter was substituted and Jonjoe Kenny switched from right-back to left to cut out the threat.

In the final 10 minutes the Portuguese began to over-commit and England had several chances to get the second goal, which finally came through Roberts. The Fulham man cut in from the right and, twisting into the box away from three bemused defenders who were scared to bring him down, lashed a shot at goal which looped up off a defender diving to block and over Duarte to confirm England's passage to the final.

Overall, the Portuguese were the better mental and tactical team and had the better chances but were foiled by the woodwork and poor finishing, while England's superior attack was the deciding factor. However, coach John Peacock will not be happy with large parts of the performance, particularly the Portuguese control of midfield and the mental approach to the game which appeared shaky at times after the defeat to the Netherlands.