Report: England MU21s 2-1 Ukraine

James McAtee’s dramatic late double kept England men’s under-21s’ hopes of topping their UEFA European Championship qualifying group alive.

The Manchester City star netted twice in the final few moments to inflict a 2-1 defeat on unbeaten table-toppers Ukraine in front of a sold-out Vitality Stadium crowd in Bournemouth.

Ben Futcher’s Young Lions knew only a win would give them the chance of leapfrogging their opponents and automatically qualifying for next summer’s Slovakian showpiece.

But Taras Mykhavko’s second-half header meant they were forced to do things the hard way before McAtee’s magnificent late intervention improbably turned the tables on the south coast.

England now trail Ukraine by just two points in Group F heading into Tuesday night’s final game against Azerbaijan, still in with a chance of overhauling them to progress automatically at the summit or if not, hoping to qualify as one of the three best runners-up.

The Young Lions started brightly as McAtee curled over and Omari Hutchinson posed a consistent threat down the right.

Liam Delap, Hutchinson’s Ipswich Town teammate, also proved a menace and could have opened the scoring after hunting down possession from the Ukrainian defence ten minutes in before Hutchinson then rifled over.

Moments later, England should've taken the lead when McAtee snatched the ball in the Ukraine box but was thwarted by goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret from close range. The Young Lions continued to boss possession as in-form Delap’s physicality consistently kept the Ukrainians on their toes.

And they finished the half strongly as Hutchinson went close once again and Lewis Hall almost created an opening after beating his man on the left-hand-side.

Delap, Hutchinson and McAtee were without doubt England’s brightest sparks throughout an opening period lacking in clear-cut chances as Futcher’s players sought to crank up the tempo after the break.

Tyler Morton and Archie Gray buzzed around in midfield while captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jarell Quansah continued to build moves from the back.

The Young Lions came close to breaking the deadlock in the second half’s opening stages when dangerous Delap fired over from outside the box.

And they almost did so again when McAtee curled wide from a similarly threatening position.

England were soon clicking into gear as Aston Villa ace Jaden Philogene became increasingly influential down the left, and he should have grabbed the opener after firing straight at Neshcheret when being put clean through on goal by McAtee.

The Young Lions were nearly made to pay for when Nazar Voloshyn got in behind and saw his effort deflected wide.

Ukraine grew increasingly into the contest and almost seized the lead when substitute Maksym Bragaru curled narrowly wide from outside the box.

But they found the back of the net just moments later when Mykhavko rose highest from a threatening corner to nod the unbeaten away side in front.

England responded as substitute Morgan Rogers rifled over before McAtee levelled with an unstoppable rising free-kick from just on the edge of the box.

And two minutes into stoppage-time, the impressive attacking midfielder coolly slotted home from close-range to trigger wild scenes and dramatically keep England’s hopes of automatic qualification alive.

England: 1 James Trafford (Burnley), 3 Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), 4 Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), 5 Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton), 6 Tyler Morton (Liverpool), 7 Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town), 9 Liam Delap (Ipswich Town), 10 James McAtee (Manchester City), 11 Jaden Philogene (Aston Villa), 14 Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion), 18 Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur)

Substitutes: 20 Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) for Gray 64’, 21 Jamie Gittens (Borussia Dortmund) for Hutchinson 64’, 16 Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) for Morton 78’, 17 Samuel Iling-Junior (Bologna, on loan from Aston Villa) for Philogene 84’

Substitutes not used: 13 James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), 22 Samuel Tickle (Wigan Athletic), 8 Alex Scott (Bournemouth), 15 Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse), 23 Dane Scarlett (Oxford United, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)

Goals: McAtee 88’, 90’

Caution: Morton 55’, Gray 55’, Hall 89’

Coach: Ben Futcher

Ukraine: 1 Ruslan Neshcheret, 2 Kostiantyn Vivcharenko, 3 Ilia Krupskyi, 6 Taras Mykhavko, 7 Maksym Khlan, 8 Oleh Ocheretko, 9 Ihor Krasnopir, 10 Yehor Yarmoliuk, 11 Nazar Voloshyn, 17 Oleh Fedor, 22 Maksym Melnychenko

Substitutes: 21 Maksym Bragaru for Krupskyi 46’, 20 Ihor Gorbach for Krasnopir 57’, 15 Artem Smoliakov for Khlan 57’, 18 Oleksandr Yatsyk for Fedor 72’, 14 Ilia Kvasnytsya for Voloshyn 84’

Substitutes not used: 12 Dmytro Ledvii, 4 Borys Krushynskyi, 16 Ivan Yermachkov, 19 Ivan Varfolomieiev,

Goals: Mykhavko 70’

Cautions: Khlan 26’, Mykhavko 63

Coach: Unai Melgosa

Referee: Joakim Ostling