Austria U21 1-2 England U21: Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah on target again
England U21s notched their seventh straight Euro qualifying win by beating Austria 2-1 in Ried Im Innkreis to stay top of Group Three.
Eddie Nketiah scored his seventh goal in three games for the Young Lions in the first half and skipper Ben Godfrey added a second five minutes after the break.
Austria striker Patrick Schmidt fired home for the hosts on the hour-mark, but Aidy Boothroyd’s side saw the game out to maintain their 100 per cent qualifying record.
Nketiah, who fired a 10-minute hat-trick in the Young Lions’ 6-0 thrashing of Kosovo last Friday, went close with an early header from Ryan Sessegnon’s cross.
Oliver Skipp’s effort was blocked before Nketiah opened the scoring in the 27th minute as he ran clear and produced a composed right-footed finish from the edge of the area.
Sessegnon’s effort was well-saved early in the second period, but England doubled their lead soon after when Godfrey ghosted in at the far post to slide home his first goal for his country following Callum Hudson-Odoi’s corner.
Austria, who began the day in second place, hit back to raise their hopes in the 60th minute when Hannes Wolf teed up Schmidt following the winger’s mazy run into the box.
Chances were few and far between as England remained well-disciplined and organised in the closing stages.
Boothroyd’s side were given a late scare when Marco Friedl curled his free-kick from the left edge of the area just wide of a post.
England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was forced into a diving catch in the dying moments from Wolf’s dangerous cross.
Boothroyd backs Nketiah to make step up from U21s
England U21s boss Boothroyd believes Nketiah is on course to become a senior international.
Nketiah moved to within one strike of Alan Shearer’s England U21s goalscoring record of 13 with his goal in the Young Lions’ 2-1 win in Austria. It was the Arsenal striker’s seventh goal in his last three games for Boothroyd’s side, who made it six wins out of six Euro qualifying matches to remain top of Group Three.
When asked if he could soon be losing another player to Gareth Southgate’s senior set-up, Boothroyd said: „That’s the nature of the job. If it means another player’s moving up, that’s brilliant. It means they’re doing really well to be anywhere near the manager’s thoughts.
„So if that happens it’s great, we’ll just find the next one. Comparing him (Nketiah) to some of the others who have gone up already, I think he’s at a similar stage. He’s competing against some of the best players in the country and if he keeps scoring and he keeps doing it for his club and for us, then he’s going to be asking questions isn’t he?
„Yes, he can do it, but it’s good he gets experiences like this because he didn’t have an easy game tonight.
„He got kicked from pillar to post, which does happen when you’re a centre-forward as good as he is. He has to deal with it and tonight he did that and scored.“
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