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England win European Under-19 Championship after extra-time victory over Israel

England’s Under-19s are European champions  (REUTERS)
England’s Under-19s are European champions (REUTERS)

England have won the European Under-19 Championship in Trnava after beating Israel 3-1 after extra time in the final.

Oscar Gloch gave Israel a deserved half-time lead at the Anton Malatinsky Stadium and Callum Doyle equalised soon after the restart.

England, tournament winners in 2017, almost won it in normal time when Aston Villa’s Carney Chukwuemeka struck a post in the 80th minute.

But Chukwuemeka chested the Young Lions into the lead in the 107th minute and Villa club-mate Aaron Ramsey tapped home to seal victory with five minutes left.

England, who lost in both the 2005 and 2009 finals, had failed to concede a goal in the tournament until their 2-1 semi-final win against Italy, but were disappointing in the first 45 minutes.

Ian Foster’s side failed to create a chance of note before the break and Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Gloch produced a rare moment of quality when turning inside the box to fire Israel into a 39th-minute lead.

But the Young Lions equalised in the 52nd minute. Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah headed back across the face of goal from a corner and Manchester City left-back Doyle, on loan at Sunderland last season, turned the ball home from close range.

Chukwuemeka’s curling effort hit a post with 10 minutes of normal time remaining, but he chested home Chelsea midfielder Harvey Vale’s superb pass in extra time and Ramsey made sure with a close-range finish.