Report: England MU18s 2-2 Czechia

Written by:

Holly Hunt

Liam Bramley's Young Lions were held to a draw in Portugal

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England men’s under-18s came from behind to register a 2-2 draw with Czechia in their first outing of the calendar year.

The Young Lions fell behind in the first half of the international fixture which took place at Estadio de Sao Miguel. With the break approaching, Filip Ruzicka fired Czechia into the lead. The FC Viktoria Plzen attacker’s strike took a deflection, sending Oliver Whatmuff the wrong way and rippling the net.

However, Liam Bramley’s side came out fighting in the second half. After seeing his initial effort cleared off the line, Moses Sesay marked his debut with a goal. The Southampton midfielder levelled proceedings with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick to make it 1-1 with 49 minutes played.

And England flipped the score line on its head with 75 minutes on the watch. The Young Lions were awarded a spot-kick which Sesay’s club team-mate Baylee Dipepa stepped up to take as the forward confidently dispatched from 12 yards after coming off the bench.

However, there was to be another twist in the tale. Late in the day, Czechia grabbed an equaliser. England stopper Whatmuff was on hand to produce a save only for Pavlo Simon to get to the rebound in the 89th minute as it finished 2-2 in Portugal.

Baylee Dipepa converted from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 to the Young Lions

England: 1 Oliver Whatmuff (Manchester City), 3 Harry Amass (Manchester United), 4 Kian Noble (Manchester City), 10 Jack Fletcher (Manchester United), 11 Jesse Derry (Crystal Palace), 12 Jaden Dixon (Stoke City), 14 George Hemmings (Aston Villa), 15 Divine Mukasa (Manchester City), 16 Leon Routh (Aston Villa), 18 Mateus Mane (Wolverhampton Wanderers), 21 Jonathan Moses Sesay (Southampton)

Substitutes: 9 Baylee Dipepa (Southampton) for Fletcher 62, 17 Airidas Golambeckis (West Ham United) for Mukasa 62, 6 Ollie Harrison (Chelsea) for Sesay 69, 23, Josh Sonni-Lambie (Liverpool) for Derry 69, 20 Chukwuemeka Adiele (West Ham United) for Mane 89, 19 Andre Garcia (Reading) for Dipepa 94

Substitutes not used: 2 Leo Shahar (Newcastle United), 5 Samuel Amissah (Fulham), 7 Jay Robinson (Southampton), 8 Harrison Armstrong (Derby County, loan from Everton), 13 Jack Austin (Chelsea), 25 Freddy Bernal (Chelsea)

Head coach: Liam Bramley

Goals: Sesay 49, Dipepa 75