Wheatley scores again for England Under-19s

Ethan Wheatley scored his second goal at the Under-19 European Championship finals but it wasn’t enough to take England through to the semi-finals.

The Manchester United striker netted with a fine turn and finish in the 52nd minute of the young Lions’ decisive final Group B match on Friday against the Netherlands to pull a goal back.

Kees Smit, Zepiqueno Redmond and Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink had given the Dutch a commanding 3-0 half-time lead. Redmond scored a fourth after Wheatley’s intervention, before Crystal Palace’s Jesse Derry reduced the arrears for England in injury time as it ended 4-2.

The young Lions would have progressed to the next stage, having drawn their opening two games, but a 91st-minute goal for Germany gave them a 2-1 victory over Norway, which ultimately knocked out Will Antwi’s side.

It means Germany will play Spain in the semi-finals, with the Netherlands advancing to take on hosts Romania.

The group-stage exit brings an end to United players’ international commitments for their countries this summer.

Despite the disappointment of heading home early, the tournament has provided another valuable experience for Wheatley – whose goal in the young Lions’ previous game was the first of four in the space of 11 second-half minutes to engineer an astonishing comeback from 5-1 down to draw 5-5 with Germany.

Ethan, who signed a new contract in March to keep him at United until 2028, spent the second half of last season on loan at Walsall in League Two.

Although it did not go as planned, our 250th Academy graduate has spoken about feeling sharper after getting some game-time for our Under-21s towards the end of the domestic term.

Now after taking some well-earned downtime, the 19-year-old will be hoping to impress Ruben Amorim ahead of our pre-season fixtures – the first of which is on 19 July against Leeds United in Stockholm, before the tour to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series.

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