UEFA U21 Championship - Group A : Italy 1-0 England

Italy clinched victory over England in Group A's second game of the day courtesy of a late Lorenzo Insigne free kick. 

Italy had dominated a goalless first half with Insigne looking particularly dangerous.  He should have opened the scoring on 21 minutes when he played a fine one-two with Ciro Immobile but Jack Butland got off his line quickly which forced Insigne to try to lift the ball over him but he got too much on the chip and his shot went just over the bar. 

The Italians should have had a penalty on 39 minutes when Insigne broke away on the left wing before playing in Alessandro Florenzi.  Florenzi tried to cut inside but was took down by Jack Robinson.  There was definite contact but the referee waved the Italian appeals away.

England had done very little in the first half but they started off the second very quickly.  Connor Wickham had a goal rightfully disallowed for offside but I'm not sure I can say the same for England's second disallowed goal.  I'm still not sure what the goal was disallowed for and I don't even know who made the decision to disallow it.  Caulker came together with an Italian in the box but there definitely wasn't enough in it to warrant a free kick.  The ball came to Craig Dawson who headed into the goal and the England players ran to the corner in celebration for a good thirty seconds before "someone" disallowed the goal. 

After that it was all Italy and Fabio Borini went close with a header from a narrow angle which Jack Butland turned around the post.  Butland went on to have a crazy few minutes shortly after when he completely missed his punch at a corner and seconds later he blasted a clearance at Borini but fortunately for the Stoke City man the Italians were unable to punish him.

On 73 minutes, Italy went close with a well worked free kick that looked to be straight from the training ground.  The English defence should have known Italy were going to do something different after a peculiar build up to the kick.  Insigne and Marco Verratti seemed to be having an argument about who was taking the kick and Verratti lifted his shirt up exposing his stomach which was presumably a sign for the free kick.  Insigne went in to the box and made a diagonal run which wasn't tracked by the defence but he was unable to connect with his acrobatic effort.

After 77 minutes, it was time for the referee to get involved again.  Manolo Gabbiadini flicked the ball past Nathaniel Clyne superbly before the Southampton man took him to the ground.  The referee seemed to give the penalty initially but looked toward his assistant and gave a free kick on the edge of the box instead.  Fortunately, for Italy it didn't matter as Insigne stepped up and curled a right footed shot into the goal to hand Italy the lead.  Butland got a hand to it but he was at full stretch and it would have been difficult to get it around the post. 

England never really threatened again until the dying seconds when they got a free kick outside the Italian box.  Jordan Henderson got a good effort on target but Francesco Bardi made a fine save at full stretch to secure the three points for Italy.

England now face a tough task in Group A and I would consider them to be outsiders for Saturday's game against Norway.  This under 21 team shares exactly the same problems as their senior counterparts.  The English media want the team to play "good football" but the players are miles behind their European rivals in technical ability.  To be a success England need to play to their strengths and technical ability is not one of them.  The one positive tonight was the performance of Bimingham City's, Nathan Redmond who was very good on his under 21 debut. 

Italy looked decent tonight but if they are to rival whoever comes out of Group B they will need to improve.   Matteo Bianchetti, Luca Marrone and Lorenzo Insigne were impressive but I would expect to see at least one of Fabio Borini or Ciro Immobile drop out of the starting line up for the Israel game. 

Man of the Match : Lorenzo Insigne - The diminutive Napoli star was outstanding in the first half and although England done a better job of closing him down in the second half, he still popped up with a very good winner. 

UEFA U21 Championship - Group A : Israel 2-2 Norway

Ten man Norway left it late to grab a point in the opening game of the UEFA U21 Championship breaking the hearts of hosts Israel in the process.

Israel got off to a nervy start and were sloppy in possession which presented Norway with the ball in good areas but they were unable to punish the mistakes. 

The home sides nerves were settled though when they took the lead in controversial fashion.  The referee gave a dubious corner to Israel and the Norwegians were unable to clear it,  With the ball bouncing about the box, Omar Elabdellaoui took a wild swing but caught Omri Ben Harush and the referee rightfully pointed to the spot.  Israel's captain, Nir Biton stepped up to take it and sent the Norwegian goalkeeper the wrong way.

The lead was short lived however and just nine minutes later, Norway were level.  Israel failed to deal with a cross into the box and Marcus Pedersen out muscled the defender before turning and hitting a low shot into the corner.

Norway built on that goal and should really have took the lead as they were causing all sorts of problems for the Israel back line.  Anders Konradsen hit the bar and Jo Inge Berget hit the post as Norway were taking advantage of a static Israeli defence with some smart attacking runs.

However, Norway failed to take advantage of their dominance and the game swung in Israel's favour just before half time when Vegar Eggen Hedenstad saw red when he brought down Mohammed Kalibat who was through with the goalkeeper to beat.  I'm not sure the referee got this right though as, although the striker was clear of Hedenstad, the angle he was running at would have took him into the path of Fredrik Semb Berge who may have been able to make a challenge.  The referee felt otherwise though and made a decision that was to have a huge impact on the result.

Even with ten men Norway still looked the better side and the goal scorer, Pedersen could and should have added to his tally.  Twice he found himself one on one with the goalkeeper and twice he failed to find the back of the net.  Konradsen was again denied by the woodwork when his deflected shot hit the post and Norway were perhaps thinking the God's were conspiring against them.

Israel began to get into the match as Norway tired and should have took the lead when Moanes Dabour turned in the box but blasted into the side netting with the goal at his mercy.

They weren't to be denied minutes later though when the ball fell to Alon Turgeman fifteen yards from goal and he blasted a volley past Orjan Nyland to send the home fans into raptures.

With time running out it looked like Israel were going to hang on for a famous victory but Norway had other ideas and forced a stoppage time equaliser.  Havard Nielsen chested the ball into the path of Harmeet Singh who connected beautifully with his left foot from outside the box to earn Norway a well deserved point.

On the balance of play a draw was probably a fair result but I think the key point of this game was the red card and if both teams had finished with eleven men I think we would be talking about a Norway victory.

It's hard to see Israel getting much joy from either of their last two games but Norway showed enough to make me think when the four senior internationals return to the squad they might just have enough to get out of this group. 

Man of the Match : Marcus Pedersen (Norway) - The Odense striker scored one goal and should have had several more but poor finishing let him down.  I could criticise him for the missed chances but instead I will give him credit for the skills and movement that created the opportunities.  I will be looking forward to see him in the next two games and expect that his finishing will be better if he gets the same volume of chances as he did in this game.