England beat Scotland to earn place in Toulon Tournament final

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England under-21s have beaten Scotland under-21s to secure a place in the final of the Toulon Tournament.

The Three Lions will play Mexico in the final on Saturday, while the Scots will meet Turkey in the third-place playoff.

Michael Johnston gave Scotland a half-time lead but an equaliser from Callum Connolly was followed by a brace from Eddie Nketiah to secure the victory for England.

Scotland started strongly with Lewis Hornby combining well with Greg Taylor before being crowded out by the English defence. Oliver Burke came close but his shot hit the outside of the post when one-on-one.

Arsenal’s Nketiah showed a sign of things to come when he broke free in the penalty area but his shot hit the post after a deflection off Jason Kerr.

Johnston gave Scotland the lead in style on the half-hour mark, driving through the England defence from the left wing before firing low past Freddie Woodman.

England improved vastly in the second half, and Connolly equalised within five minutes of the restart. Nketiah broke free inside the box before finding Connolly to tap in from six yards.

Nketiah gave England the lead just moments later when he cut in from the left before curling into the top corner.

England controlled the rest of the half, and the result was put beyond doubt with 16 minutes remaining. It was Nketiah again who made the most of a poor Scotland pass before powering in from the edge of the penalty area.

Hornby tried to pull a goal back in the closing stages but his shot was well saved by Woodman.

England are looking to win the Toulon Tournament for the third time in a row. Scotland, meanwhile, have been knocked out at the semi-final stage for the second successive year.

Cover Photo: Wembley by Georges-adrien Carcanis under license from CC BY NC-ND 2.0

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