Spain struggles with penalty decision: England in the semi-finals

England secured their second semifinal spot at the U-21 European Championship: The Young Lions laid the foundation for the semifinals with an early double strike. However, the Spanish team should have been awarded a penalty beforehand.
The spell is broken: James McAtee celebrates his opening goal. IMAGO/Shutterstock
Neither quarterfinalist had been able to win the dress rehearsals, if you can call them that. Spain, led by coach Santiago Denia Sanchez, entered the race as slight favorites thanks to their 1-1 draw with Italy and their group victory. England had lost 2-1 to the German U-21 team – but still booked their ticket to the last eight.
Spain got off to a much better start, being awarded a handball penalty after less than 120 seconds. However, after reviewing the video footage, Italian referee Simone Sozza surprisingly ruled that Cresswell's handball was not punishable.
Quansah helps at the front and messes up at the backEngland took advantage of the Spanish discontent and brought the game to their side with a quick double strike: McAtee was in the right place from a set piece (10th minute), and shortly afterwards Elliott coolly tapped in Quansah's powerful shot (15th minute).
Spain were now completely out of sorts, while England brimmed with confidence. As the game progressed, however, the Young Lions dropped deeper and ceded possession to the Iberians. They were looking for dangerous attacking opportunities – and were awarded a second penalty: Quansah, a Bayer 04 Leverkusen target, brought down Moleiro. Javi Guerra coolly converted the resulting penalty (39').
After the break, Spain immediately sought an equalizer, but rarely had clear-cut chances. That was until Javi Guerra stepped up: The top talent from Valencia FC was denied twice by England goalkeeper Beadle within seconds (61').
England coach Lee Carsley took off both of his goalscorers before the final quarter of an hour and put his trust in a fresh squad to help hold on to the lead. A plan that worked. Things got even worse for Spain, though: In stoppage time, goalkeeper Iturbe conceded a penalty, which Anderson coolly converted (90'+4').


stadium | Anton Malatinsky Stadium |
Thanks to the not undeserved 3-1 win, England will now face the Netherlands in the semifinals next Wednesday. Jong Oranje thrashed Portugal in the first quarterfinal of the U-21 European Championship despite being outnumbered for 70 minutes .