England reach semis after Spain win
James Milner wrapped up the win
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Thursday, 18, Jun 2009 10:07
England Under-21s have reached the semi-finals of the European Championships with 2-0 win over Spain in Gothenburg.
James Milner missed a first-half penalty before Frazier Campbell gave England the lead and Milner then made amends with the second goal.
England knew they needed a good start against the much-fancied Spain, but a terrible back pass from Nedum Onuoha almost caught Joe Hart, but the Manchester City goalkeeper did well to get back and stop the ball from going in.
Spain played their usual style of passing football, but were unable to find the killer pass. At the other end, England threatened more on the wings and should have taken the lead after half-an-hour.
Trickery from Milner saw him get brought down in the penalty area and England were awarded a penalty. The Aston Villa winger stepped-up and took the spot-kick himself, but saw his shot brilliantly saved by Sergio Asenjo in the Spain goal.
A moment of madness from Hart almost led to a goal for Spain. The keeper came rushing out of goal, but missed the ball and gave Adrian Lopez a chance to shoot at an empty goal, but Micah Richards got back to clear the ball.
England lost key man Gabriel Agbonlahorto injury towards the end of the first-half, but it prove to work in England's favour as it was his replacement Campbell who opened the scoring. The striker latched on to a loose ball and turned Javi Garcia before drilling the ball past Asenjo.
Theo Walcott was left out of the line-up this evening, but came on as a substitute and went on to create the second goal. The Arsenal winger pulled the ball back for Milner to score from 12 yards out.