Report: England MU19s 0-0 Turkiye

England men’s under-19s continued their unbeaten start to the UEFA U19 EURO qualification programme, picking up a point against Turkiye at the Deeside Stadium.

With three points already under their belt before today, Antwi’s men come up against Portugal next Tuesday knowing that a victory will secure their progression to the competition proper.

Our Young Lions looked to set their stall out early, as Shumaira Mheuka met Kadan Young’s byline delivery, earning his side an early corner.

From there, goalmouth action proved hard to come by, with England coming closest on 23 minutes as Mheuka looked to pick out the bottom corner, narrowly missing the target.

Mikey Moore then bore down on the visitors’ goal, as our Young Lions moved the ball from back-to-front, dragging an effort wide.

Moore was involved once more, linking up with Stephen Mfuni as the pair continued to use the wide options as an outset to attack, but his delivery failed to trouble Kagan Arican.

The visitors had newfound attacking intent as Emirhan Arkutcu broke away, but Zach Abbott stepped in to disrupt their flow, accepting a booking in the process.

Chris Rigg and Moore both took aim at the other end, but the visitors’ backline withstood any pressure to head into the break on level terms.

Our Young Lions started the second period with renewed energy. Rigg stood up a ball to Abbott at the back post, whose headed effort was well dealt with, before firing wide himself moments later.

Lewis Orford kept up the pressure, standing up to a dead-ball from 20 yards, but the Turkish ‘keeper was equal to the midfielder’s effort.

England threatened again on the hour mark, as Moore drove his side up-field, testing Arican in the Turkiye net.

The visitors refused to roll over and, in the 68th minute, struck the woodwork when Efe Korkut let fly from distance.

With the game petering out, substitute Tyrique George came inches away from securing maximum points, as he cut onto his right-foot, looking to find the top corner.

Moore then saw the last of the action after he was teed up by Josh King, but the forward was only able to place his effort over.

England: 13 Finlay Herrick (West Ham United), 4 Lewis Miley (Newcastle United) ©, 8 Chris Rigg (Sunderland), 12 Harrison Murray-Campbell (Chelsea), 14 Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur), 15 Kadan Young (Royal Antwerp, loan from Aston Villa), 16 Lewis Orford (West Ham United), 17 Caleb Kporha (Crystal Palace), 18 Zach Abbott (Nottingham Forest), 19 Shumaira Mheuka (Chelsea), 20 Stephen Mfuni (Manchester City)

Substitutes: 7 Tyler Dibling (Southampton) for Mheuka 76, 10 Josh King (Fulham) for Rigg 76, 11 Tyrique George (Chelsea) for Young 79

Substitutes not used: 1 Tommy Setford (Arsenal), 2 Triston Rowe (Aston Villa), 3 Joe Johnson (Luton Town), 5 Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), 6 Kiano Dyer (Chelsea)

Head coach: Will Antwi