Ipswich Town: Omari Hutchinson helps England beat Spain at U21 Euros
Ipswich Town star Omari Hutchinson started as England’s Young Lions beat Spain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the U21 Euros last night.
The 21-year-old forward made his second start of the tournament on the left side of the three behind striker Jay Stansfield as Lee Carsley’s men remained on track to defend their title.
After impressing early on, Hutchinson played 52 minutes before being replaced by ex-Norwich City star Jonathan Rowe. He received an average match rating of 7.12 on the BBC Sport website.
First half goals from James McAtee and Harvey Elliott were rounded off by Elliot Anderson’s late penalty, firing England through to face the Netherlands in the last four on Wednesday night in Bratislava.
The young sides clashed at the final whistle, with the players and benches involved in a mass confrontation before they were eventually separated. Unused Spain substitute Rafa Marin was dismissed for his part in the brawl.
After the match, Carsley said: “We talked about getting a fast start and I thought in the first half we were so good.
“I was saying before the game, the longer we can stay in it, the more fluid we’ll become. There were some outstanding performances, and they should be proud of themselves.
“We talk about attacking so much that sometimes you forget the other side of the game and I thought the two centre backs, the goalkeeper, all the back four, were outstanding with their defending of the box.
“The one blemish would be they’ve given away a penalty, but we responded really well and more than deserved the win.
“I’m saying that the big thing is, this can’t be our final. This can’t be the highlight of the competition.
“There are better nights to come. It’s good now that we’ve got an extra day’s recovery and we’re looking forward to the next game.”
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