THE England under 17s overcame an early penalty to beat 10-man Russia under 17s 2-1 at the Pirelli Stadium
Second-half goals from Clinton Mola and Mason Greenwood handed England the win, after Maksim Kutovol had converted a penalty inside the first minute game, while Dmitry Markitesov.
Russia took the lead when Ethan Laird committed a foul inside the penalty area with less than 20 seconds of the game gone. Kutovol converted the spot-kick to make it 1-0.
Kutovol almost doubled his tally minutes later. The forward ran through the England defence and shot, but he was denied by England's Arthur Okwonko.
Russia were reduced to ten-men when Markitesov was involved in an incident with Louie Sibley, which saw the Russian player shown a straight red card.
After the break, England looked to make their numerical advantage count, and they succeeded in the 49th minute. Bola reacted quickest to smash a loose ball home from just inside the penalty area.
Steve Cooper's young Lions took the lead just before the hour-mark, when Greenwood drove a low shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner of the Russian goal.
That goal would be decisive as England held on for their win, the side's second of the mini-tournament.
Photo credit: Ryan Browne