Last-gasp Swiss hold England
Eurosport - Tue, 21 Jul 20:50:00 2009
An injury-time equaliser earned Switzerland a 1-1 draw with England in the first game of the European U19 Championships in Ukraine.
Sebastien Weutrich's 92nd-minute free-kick cancelled out a similar effort by Joe Mattock on 35 minutes to share the spoils in the Group A clash at Metalurg Donetsk's stadium.
England took the lead with the first clear-cut chance of the match when Leicester's Mattock curled the ball just inside Oliver Klaus's left-hand post.
Marco Schoenbaechler almost leveled two minutes later but his mis-hit shot was deflected wide.
England went into the break ahead and started the second half well when Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso set-up Manchester United youngster Danny Welbeck, whose shot was blocked.
Arsenal's Henri Lansbury almost extended England's lead with a swerving corner that Switzerland failed to clear but none of his team-mates were able to get a final touch.
Francois Affolter saved his side with a goal-line clearance after Welbeck's finish beat Klaus, while Swiss substitute Admir Mehmedi flicked a header wide following a corner as Switzerland pressed for an equaliser.
Keeper Jason Steele was put under increasing pressure and made saves from Weutrich and Mehmedi but he was unable to stop Weutrich's powerful late effort.
England face hosts Ukraine on Friday while the Swiss play Slovenia.
In the other Group A match, Ukraine were held to a goalless draw by Slovenia.
Group B saw Turkey beaten 1-2 by Spain, while France were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbia.
Watch Ukraine U19 v Slovenia U19 LIVE at 5pm and Spain U19 v Turkey U19 at 6.15pm on Tuesday 21 July on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe
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