Portugal demolished England 4-1 on the Ammochostos Stadium in Larnaca on Friday night time to keep up their good begin to the Uefa below 17 championship.
England did have the higher of the opening exchanges, with each Shumaira Mheuka and Ethan Nwaneri forcing Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Ferreira into early saves.
On the different finish, Portugal’s Rodrigo Mora was a livewire, twisting and handing over and round England’s defence, although was unable to get both of his two early pictures on course.
Portugal then managed to construct a sustained interval of strain, penning England into their very own half for many of a ten-minute spell halfway by means of the primary half, although the Three Lions’ defence remained resolute, and save for one Cardoso Varela shot, restricted Portugal’s menace.
It was after withstanding that strain that England created their greatest likelihood of the primary half, Christian McFarlane taking part in a neat by means of ball to Mikey Moore down the left-hand facet. Moore’s low cross discovered Shumaira Mheuka, whose first-time shot was effectively saved by Ferreira.
Portugal finally took the lead ten minutes earlier than half time. Cardoso Varela discovered house on the left and set the ball to Rodrigo Mora, who arrowed his shot low and into the underside left-hand nook of the web.
England wobbled a little bit after the aim, dealing with their first contact of issue after steamrollering France on the similar venue on Tuesday night time. Abruptly, their defence seemed jittery, and their passing was much less crisp than it had been within the opening exchanges.
Nevertheless, they finally gathered themselves and located a manner again into the sport simply earlier than half time. Ethan Nwaneri set Leo Shahar free down the correct, and Shahar’s low cross may solely be palmed away by Diogo Ferreira into the trail of Mikey Moore, who made no mistake to attain from shut vary.
Portugal retook the lead instantly after half time when Martim Cunha’s lofted ball excessive of England’s defence discovered Cardoso Varela, who nipped the ball previous the onrushing Ollie Harrison earlier than squaring the ball for Rodrigo Mora to faucet into an empty web for his second of the sport.
England virtually equalised straight after, with a cross from Leo Shahar discovering Mikey Moore, whose half-volleyed end cleared the crossbar.
From that second on, England had a interval of sustained strain. Moore got here the closest to scoring, working previous three Portuguese defenders earlier than Diogo Ferreira’s left handcrafted nearly sufficient contact with the shot to ship the ball trickling previous his put up.
Portugal have been in a position to climate the storm, nevertheless, after which doubled their lead with 25 minutes remaining when Cardoso Varela discovered house down the left hand facet after which discovered Gabriel Silva within the field.
Silva made no mistake with the end, slotting the ball past Spike Brits within the England aim and into the underside right-hand nook.
4 minutes later, they put the sport past all doubt. Rodrigo Mora rounded Spike Brits earlier than passing the ball sq. to Afonso Patrao, who handed the ball into the empty web along with his first contact after approaching instead.
With a three-goal cushion, Portugal have been in a position to exert extra management on the sport and determine the tempo at which it ought to be performed.
On the uncommon events the place their defence was breached, Diogo Ferreira was not solely equal to the problem, however produced an beautiful save to disclaim Divine Mukasa from 20 yards, not solely saving however catching a shot which was destined for the highest nook in what proved to be the final significant act of the match.
Elsewhere, France beat Spain 1-0 at Larnaca’s Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, with Enzo Molebe scoring the one aim of the match 5 minutes from time.
Portugal are subsequently all however by means of to the quarter finals, requiring solely a draw from their remaining match towards France on Monday to make development completely certain. England additionally nonetheless have their destiny in their very own fingers, figuring out that victory over Spain on the identical night time will see them by means of.
Earlier, Italy ensured they’d qualify for the quarter finals as Group C winners with a cushty 2-0 victory over Slovakia on the Ethnikos Stadium in Achna. First half objectives from Francesco Camarda and Mattia Liberali have been the distinction between the perimeters.
Within the different Group C fixture, Poland battled again from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw towards Sweden. Genesis Antwi gave Sweden an early lead, which was cancelled out by Jakub Adkonis. Fred Bozicevic then put Sweden forward for a second time, earlier than Michael Izunwanne’s aim ensured the factors can be shared.
