U21 Euro Roundup: Wins for Spain and Germany on opening night

Spain and Germany both eased to victory in their opening matches of the U21 Euro 2021.

The Germans were held by hosts Hungary for the first hour before Lukas Nmecha opened the scoring. Bote Baku scored twice in the closing stages as Germany took an early lead in Group A.

In the other match in the group, Netherlands drew 1-1 against Romania.

Perr Schuurs gave the Dutch the lead from a Justin Kluivert corner but Andrei Ciobanu curled in a stunning free-kick as Romania earned a point.

In Group B, Spain comfortably defeated Slovenia thanks to three second-half goals.

Javi Puado and Gonzalo Villar netted within a minute of each other and Juan Miranda fired in a third late on to seal the win.

Italy ended the match with nine men but earned a point against Czech Republic.

Gianluca Scamacca was put through by Patrick Cutrone to give Italy the lead but a Giulio Maggiore own goal from a Czech corner saw the score levelled.

Sandro Tonali and Riccardo Marchizza were both given their marching orders late on but Italy were able to hold on to salvage a point.

England’s tournament gets underway on Thursday when they meet Switzerland.