Turkey U21 vs England U21. European Under-21 Championship Qualifying Group A.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadi.
Eddie Nketiah (2) and Reiss Nelson strike for fine victory
Friday 6 September 2019 21:57, UK
Eddie Nketiah scored two goals as England U21s began their Euro 2021 qualifying campaign with a 3-2 victory in Turkey.
Aidy Boothroyd's team suffered frustration in the summer as they were knocked out of the European Championship in the group stages and it looked like that feeling might endure on Friday night, despite a largely new crop of prospects given a chance to impress.
Just six members of the squad for this month's qualifiers have previously played for the Young Lions - Nketiah one of them.
The striker put England ahead and, although Turkey turned the game around, Nketiah and Reiss Nelson struck in quick succession to secure the win.
England started well and went ahead after just four minutes following a good move involving Steven Sessegnon and Phil Foden down the left side of the penalty area; Foden's low cross was missed by two Turkish defenders allowing Nketiah to stab the ball home from seven yards out.
Nelson had an even clearer opportunity to score in the first half but the teams went into the interval level after Dogukan Sinik raced clear and scored after 25 minutes.
England made a sluggish start to the second half and they paid the price six minutes after the restart. A well-worked corner saw Mert Muldur get away from his marker and his free run to the near post saw him flick the ball past Aaron Ramsdale.
However, two goals in as many minutes turned the match on its head. Foden was the architect again, darting goalwards before threading a lovely pass to Nketiah just inside the penalty area and the Arsenal forward, on loan at Leeds, provided a tidy finish.
Immediately afterwards, Nelson netted what proved to be the winning goal with a low shot that may have taken a deflection off a Turkish defender.
