England into U21 Euros final as Harvey Elliott downs Netherlands with superb brace

England U21s are into a second successive Euros final thanks to a second-half double from Harvey Elliott that downed the Netherlands and kept Lee Carsley's team on course to retain their title. Elliott scored the decisive winner on Wednesday night just five minutes before the final whistle in the blistering heat of Bratislava.

The Young Lions, who were triumphant in the previous tournament in 2023, took the lead courtesy of a second-half strike from the Liverpool attacker which was set up by Tino Livramento. Their Dutch opponents drew level through substitute Noah Ohio, whose inventive 35-yard shot with his very first touch caught goalkeeper James Beadle by surprise. Elliott, wearing the captain's armband after James McAtee was substituted off, then stepped up once more for England. He collected the ball on the right, weaved past several defenders before firing a shot into the bottom corner from distance.

That goal was enough to put Lee Carsley's side into Saturday night's final in the capital of Slovakia. Germany await at the weekend after they thrashed France 3-0 in the other semi-final later on Wednesday.

A visibly knackered Elliott, feeling the heat after playing in 33 degrees Celsius, told Channel 4 post-match: "Amazing. Really tough game but bloody hell, it's incredible. Another final. Really tough conditions once again but the lads dug deep. We've got a few players missing because of the Club World Cup and transfers but now we have a chance to go and win it again.

"I know I keep saying it, but we need to rest, recover and go again. It is not over yet. Tonight was another amazing experience. I think we deserve this final. It is about recovering, resting and going again."

Elliott hurt his knee when celebrating his second goal and explained: "My knee is bloody hurting. I don't know what I have done to it. Hopefully it is nothing too serious. Silly decision from me, but one of them. Live in the moment, you do these things.

"The pitch was ridiculously dry, but that's the price I have got to pay. It has been really tough, preparation-wise. As I said before, we had many players who had to drop out, Club World Cup and transfers. We want to do it for everyone who can't be here. It is one last push."

Young Lions boss Carsley, who had six games as the interim manager of the senior side before Thomas Tuchel took over, insisted he will not focus on the opposition too much ahead of the weekend's final as he praised his players for sticking to their game plan.

Carsley continued: "I thought the team were outstanding. The way we started the game was really exciting and were a little disappointed not to score. The second half, we played with real resilience and we got over the line. We had to defend the box, and James made some good saves.

"Harvey and Charlie [Cresswell] did not play a lot of minutes in the last campaign but we knew how important they would be. They have taken on the responsibility to drive the rest of the squad. I thought McAtee was excellent, Jay Stansfield too. Our plan in this heat was to keep the ball, and we did that.

"It's just a shame that we have only got one game left because I think this team are outstanding. I'll be watching our game back before I watch France vs Germany. I don't want to focus too much on the opposition."

Goalkeeper James Beadle said: "Unbelievable. Once you go 1-0 to 1-1 it is a tough blow. Then we got a brilliant goal from Harvey. I think we can beat anyone, we believe in our abilities and we are going there to win."