AFC Bournemouth
Lloyd Kelly marked his eighth appearance for England under-21s with an assist in their comprehensive 5-0 win over Albania at Molineux last night.
Victory saw Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions complete their European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign unbeaten, having won nine and drawn one of their ten group games.
Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi collected Kelly’s pass on the left wing before cutting inside and firing past goalkeeper Marco Molla for England’s fourth-minute opener.
While Molla perhaps should have done better with Hudson-Odoi’s shot, he was powerless to prevent James Justin from doubling England’s lead with a stunning second goal.
Bayern Munich forward Jamal Musiala, who played for Germany at under-16 level, celebrated his full debut with a well-worked goal after playing a neat one-two with Oliver Skipp.
Big win to close out a successful international break 💪🏾🏴 focus is back to the league... pic.twitter.com/dMBoM6wiXY
— Lloyd Kelly (@lloydkelly4) November 18, 2020
Eddie Nketiah’s shot squirmed through Molla’s legs as England made it 4-0 seven minutes into the second half before the goalkeeper kept out the Arsenal man’s penalty.
However, Molla was beaten again by Nketiah when he found the back of the net with a powerful right-footed shot four minutes from time, his 16th goal in 14 appearances at this level.
The 2021 finals will be held in Hungary and Slovenia, with the group stage played in March and the finals at the start of June so as not to clash with the rescheduled Euro 2020.
Jefferson Lerma will quickly want to forget his 24th cap for Colombia as they suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier in Quito.
First-half goals from Robert Arboleda, Angel Mena, Michael Estrada and Xavier Arreaga put the hosts 4-0 ahead before a James Rodriguez penalty cut the deficit on the stroke of half-time.
Lerma, who received a yellow card, was replaced by Edwin Cardona in the 65th minute before Gonzalo Plata restored Ecuador’s four-goal lead 12 minutes from time, only to pick up a second booking for his celebration.
Pervis Estupinan completed the scoring in added time as Colombia conceded six goals in a World Cup qualifier for the first time since 1977.
The six goals were as many as Ecuador, who failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, had scored in their previous 16 games against their neighbours.
Defeat left Colombia in seventh place on four points after four games with the top four in the 10-team South American group qualifying automatically for the World Cup and the fifth-placed side going into an inter-regional play-off.
