England U21s Secure 4-1 Win Over Austria U21s: Morgan Rogers Shines with Double
England’s Under-21 squad trounced Austria 4-1 thanks to a brilliant display of skill and cooperation, two goals from Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers at Kenilworth Road.
With this triumph, Ben Futcher, the Young Lions’ temporary coach, has had a great start to his tenure. In a game where Rogers opened the score from the penalty spot, Ben Futcher secured his first win as interim coach.
Thierno Ballo of Austria tied the score for the visitors, but goals from James McAtee, Tom Fellows, and Rogers in the second half gave England a strong foundation to push forward with their 2025 Euro qualifying campaign. It was the visitors who nearly inflicted the opening blow, as Liam Delap was booked just 20 seconds for diving in Austria’s box.
After a free-kick was given away by England on the edge of the box, Christoph Lang of Austria was able to curl his effort over the wall and force goalkeeper James Beadle to tip it around a post to keep the score equal.
The hosts were energized by Austria’s early warning shot, but Delap’s clumsy one-v-one attempt that went straight to the keeper served as a reminder that England needs to be more clinical if they are to prevent a recurrence of Friday’s goalless draw with Northern Ireland.
By the twenty-fiveth minute, Futcher’s team was well warmed up, and their quick thinking paid off when Tyler Morton stopped Florian Micheler in the act of passing the ball.
After a pressure-inducing pass from his keeper, the midfielder had his pocket picked. The loose ball was misplaced, but it eventually found McAtee, who broke through on goal before the Manchester City player used quick footwork to compel Nikolas Polster to foul and earn a penalty.
Rogers of Aston Villa, who had arguably been unlucky not to be selected for Lee Carsley’s senior team, assumed responsibility and, after 25 minutes, fired a shot into the roof of the net to give England a 1-0 lead. However, England’s efforts were undone by a mistake at the defense, as Austria capitalized on a mistake before to a magnificent long-range goal.
Alex Scott’s feet were supplied a fizzed pass by captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis from the back. The usually dependable midfielder mishandled and was forced to the ground by Ballo, who was then well-positioned to curl his shot past the unmoving Beadle and into the lower right corner for a 1-1 score. In the second half, England emerged from the traps quickly and took the lead again.
McAtee instinctively threw Rogers into space after Samuel Iling-Junior made a no-look pass into his foot. After taking just one touch, the winger clinically curled his effort into the far right-hand corner to score his second goal and make it 2-1.
When McAtee participated in the scoring act himself, his impressive performance reached a new level. Rogers had a major role; he ducked under his defender to release Lewis Hall on the overlap, and then he met McAtee’s whipping low cross on the volley, where he smashed the ball into the bottom right corner. Hall repeated his earlier delivery in the 81st minute, this time his cross found substitute Fellows, who tapped in the fourth.
Ben Futcher, the interim manager of England U21s:
“The second half was stronger for us. We had many obvious opportunities and missed them, so we were upset to go into halftime down one apiece.
“We were merciless in the second half, and while it could have been more, it was still a pretty strong performance with some positive moments. We applied more pressure, were more merciless, and earned four well-earned goals.
“I thought we played some excellent football; we made some really good chances, were patient when necessary, and moved the ball around the pitch beautifully. I asked our best players to express themselves, and they did just that.
“Morgan is one of the very talented people there. He was great tonight, but so were the other players, so it’s fantastic to see him on the scoreboard. We can leave pleased because the evening was productive and we played well as a team.”
