Report: Belgium 2-1 England MU17s
The Young Lions end their trip to Belgium with defeat in their second game in Tubize
England men's under-17s narrowly lost by 2-1 to Belgium in their second friendly of a November double-header against the same opposition.
After a 1-1 draw and a penalty shoutout defeat in their first meeting last Friday, Neil Ryan's Young Lions looked to bounce back and secure the victory at the second time of asking.
But in a similar fashion to the first fixture, it was the hosts who took the lead thanks to a 22nd minute strike from Murenzi Aaron.
However just past the half-hour mark, Ryan McAidoo would bring his side back into the fixture, just as he did on Friday night.
A quick counter-attack from England saw Igor Tyjon slide McAidoo in on the right, before he dispatched an emphatic finish to bring the sides level.
With this goal, the fixture opened up as both sides looked to take the lead before the interval.
And it took until midway into the second half for the winner to arrive, as Belgium capitalised on a swift counter-attack to take the lead 20 minutes from time.
England would fail to reply again, as the fixture concluded with the hosts claiming their second victory against Ryan’s side in a matter of days.
The Young Lions will be in action again next spring, when they head into the UEFA U17 EURO elite qualifying round, with the draw to be made in December.
England: 12 Theo Julienne (Arsenal), 14 Ryan McAidoo (Manchester City), 15 Louis Page (Leicester City), 16 Landon Emenalo (Chelsea), 17 Bendito Mantato (Manchester United), 18 Chinaza Nwosu (West Ham United), 19 Jack McGrath (Aston Villa), 20 Igor Tyjon (Blackburn Rovers), 21 Reigan Heskey (Manchester City), 22 Aidan Stokes (New York Red Bulls) (GK), 23 Malachi Hardy (Tottenham Hotspur) ©
Substitutes: 2 Wes Okoduwa (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for 12 Julienne 62’, 6 Freddie Simmonds (Brighton & Hove Albion) for 16 Emenalo 62’, 10 Max Dowman (Arsenal) for 19 McGrath 62’, 3 Kaden Braithwaite (Manchester City) for 17 Mantato 67’, 4 Harrison Miles (Manchester City) for 15 Page 67’, 5 Jayden Ngwashi (Manchester United) for 23 Hardy 67’, 7 Bradley Burrowes (Aston Villa) for 14 McAidoo 67’, 9 Alejandro Rodriguez (Olympique Lyonnais) for 20 Tyjon 67’, 11 Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool) for 21 Heskey 67’, 8 Anton Palmer (Middlesborough) for 18 Nwosu 81’
Substitutes not used: Owen Asemota (Aston Villa) (GK)
Goals: McAidoo 34’
Head coach: Neil Ryan
