At half-time here last night, England were heading out of the European Under-21 Championship, trailing Slovakia 1-0 and looking worryingly blunt.
It was a situation which demanded a response and, to his credit, head-coach Aidy Boothroyd found one with his side winning 2-1.
Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah acknowledged the issues: “We didn’t play that badly in the first-half, but we conceded and then started rushing things”.
Strong words were exchanged between the players at half-time and Boothroyd made changes with Jacob Murphy brought on in place of Mason Holgate to add more aggression from an unfamiliar full‑back role.
Within five minutes, the game was level. Murphy’s cross dropped between the Slovakia centre-halves and Alfie Mawson prodded home at the second attempt.
The midfield, so worryingly loose in the 0-0 draw against Sweden, was far more compact and began to work England’s game-breaking players into threatening positions.
Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham then had a key part in setting up the winner for Nathan Redmond, who lashed a deflected drive into the far corner.
This may not have been a performance of overwhelming technical quality, but it drew on plenty of resilience. Again, England’s supporters were greatly outnumbered in the stands and the players faced a backdrop of ceaseless hostility. That will be the case again on Thursday, when they face hosts Poland in a similarly partisan environment.
England are growing into this championship rather than shrinking from it and are now just one win away from a first semi‑final since 2009.
