England defeated Spain 3-1 in Slovakia to advance to the European Under-21 Championship semi-finals.
A VAR review saved England from an early penalty against the Netherlands, their next opponents.
The scoring began in the tenth minute when Captain James McAtee scored, followed five minutes later by Harvey Elliott’s second tournament goal.
Spain’s Javi Guerra converted a 39th-minute penalty, but a late own goal by substitute Elliot Anderson secured England’s place in the semifinals.
A questionable handball call against Cresswell, seemingly trying to avoid contact, resulted in a penalty for Spain, and an unsteady start for England.
When the Italian referee’s decision was overturned by his fellow VAR official, England collectively exhaled in relief.
Following a flick-on from Omari Hutchinson off an Alex Scott corner, McAtee scored the first goal. England’s captain reacted quickly to a Spanish attempt, deflecting the ball from close range.
Five minutes later, Elliott capitalized on a rebound from a saved long-range shot by Quansah, extending England’s lead to two goals.
A reckless foul by Quansah on Moleiro, following an error deep in their own end, gave Spain a penalty.
Guerra expertly chipped away at the deficit, cleverly deceiving James Beadle to halve the score.
Quansah and Hutchinson’s excellent work after the break nearly resulted in a goal for Stansfield, whose shot was deflected, and Cresswell’s headed corner was off target.
Following Beadle’s two denials of Guerra and retrieval of Mateo Joseph’s effort, England continued their search for a shot on target, their first since Elliott’s goal with twenty minutes to go, only to have Morton fire just wide.
A free header from Jack Hinshelwood, which should have extended England’s lead, went over the crossbar.
Spain’s pursuit of a late goal was thwarted when Iturbe’s foul on Jonathan Rowe in the penalty area gifted England a counter-attacking goal scored by Anderson.
The Netherlands are Wednesday’s semi-finalists, having defeated Portugal 1-0 on Saturday.
