Internationals - Skipp starts as England Under-21s defeat Germany at Euros, Destiny's Italy exit
Wed 28 June 2023, 19:59|
Tottenham Hotspur
Oliver Skipp helped England to complete their Under-21 UEFA European Championship group stage campaign with maximum points as the Young Lions defeated Germany 2-0 on Wednesday evening.
Having already picked up wins over the Czech Republic and Israel on matchdays one and two, England headed into their clash with Germany already assured of top spot in Group C, but that didn't stop them producing another professional performance in Georgia.
Making his first start of the tournament, Oliver's side got off to the perfect start as Aston Villa's Cameron Archer opened the scoring within four minutes of the first whistle. Liverpool's Harvey Elliott then doubled their lead 17 minutes later as the Young Lions took charge.
Ultimately, those goals were enough for England to claim all three points against Die Mannschaft as a strong defensive performance ensured the Young Lions also picked up their third clean sheet of the tournament. Skippy played the full 90 minutes in Batumi.
England now face a quarter-final tie against Group A runners-up Portugal on Sunday (kick-off 5pm).
There was disappointment for Destiny Udogie and Italy, however, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Norway - a result which saw them exit the competition.
Knowing they at least needed to better Switzerland's result against France to have a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages, conceding Erik Botheim's eventual match-winner on 65 minutes made it a difficult night for the Italians. Destiny remained an unused substitute for the game.
The night's results meant that Italy, Switzerland and Norway all finished on three points each in Group D. In the event of teams being level on points, the tie breaker is decided by the head-to-head goal difference of that 'mini-league' - and it was the Swiss that edged it on that measurement to qualify with Destiny's Azzurrini finishing third.
