Liverpool pair Michael Ngoo and Jonjo Shelvey scored a goal in each half this evening to give England Under-19s a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Slovakia.
England's two goalkeepers Jack Butland and Sam Johnstone were hardly troubled by Slovakia and it was always the young Three Lions looking the most threatening side going forward.
It took England just 16 minutes to go in front at Gresty Road on a warm evening. Ngoo was the key benefactor after some good approach play from midfielder Ross Barkley who stole possession and set Ngoo through on goal. It was a cool finish from the young striker who waited for the Slovakian stopper Patrik Le Giang to commit himself before side footing home.
The lively Ngoo then lifted a shot over the bar after the bar. It was turning out to be an impressive debut from the Liverpool striker and he was backed up superbly by the excellent Shelvey and Chelsea's number 10 Josh McEachran in a fluent 4-3-2-1 formation.
England played some fine one-touch football and dominated much of the possession in the first half. They continued to get joy in behind and probably deserved more than the one goal they would enter half time with. A clever reverse pass from Shelvey sent Manchester United winger Ezekiel Fryers in on goal but he could only drag his fine effort wide.
The Liverpool double act combined again on the half an hour mark but Ngoo couldn't keep his header down from Shelvey's left hand cross.
The former Charlton midfielder, who moved to Anfield in the summer for a fee of £1.7 million deserved a goal but could only drag his only real effort of the first half wide of the target after the ball had dropped invitingly to him just outside the six yard box.
Ngoo finished his first 45 minutes by drifting off of his wing but he shot just over the Slovakian crossbar.
A flurry of substitutions from both managers in the second half did interfere with the rhythm of the game but the Middlesbrough youngster Luke Williams did catch the eye with some darting runs and a superb shot that was tipped onto the crossbar by the Slovakian goalkeeper. It was a wonderful effort that deserved better but the agile goalkeeper deserved credit too for reaching it.
Shelvey sealed the win with a stunning free-kick from 20 yards out after another substitute Shaun Jeffers was tripped by Jakub Vrablec. He deserved his goal after a good night's work on what was his debut at this level and he certainly deserved his standing ovation from the 3,013 crowd when he was replaced by Williams late on. The England skipper on the night was the pick of the bunch in a good team performance.
England continued to try and add to their goal tally with Williams going close after a bit of a scramble inside the Slovakian box and a fellow sub Will Keane just failed to reach a cross from Benik Afobe with his head. It was just a little too high for him to control his header.
Blake's England certainly deserved their win at Gresty Road this evening and the youngsters in the crowd could just have seen some International stars of the future.
England: Butland, Pilatos, Deen Conteh, Wisdom, MacDonald, Mills, Shelvey, Barkley, Ngoo, McEachran, Fryers.
Gate: 3,013
