Ben Johnson helped England U21s reach the last-four of the 2023 UEFA European U21 Championship finals with a 1-0 quarter-final victory over Portugal.
The West Ham United defender appeared as a second-half substitute as the Young Lions continued their perfect start to the tournament in Georgia on Sunday.
Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon scored England’s goal eleven minutes before half-time, smashing into the Portuguese net after build-up play involving Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
Portugal came on strong in the second half, hitting the crossbar through a header from Henrique Araujo of Benfica, and England coach Lee Carsley sent on defensive reinforcements to help see the game out.
Among them was Johnson, who replaced Norwich City’s Max Aarons 16 minutes from time in Kutaisi to win his tenth England U21 cap.
The Hammer was involved immediately, being shown a yellow card for a foul on Ajax forward Francisco Conceição just three minutes after his introduction.
But, more importantly, the full-back helped England hold on to win their fourth match out of four at the tournament, all of them achieved without conceding a single goal.
Carsley’s Young Lions will take on Israel in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Johnson started as England defeated the same opponents 2-0 in their final group-stage tie, but will miss the last-four clash through suspension after being booked for the second time in the tournament.
England are seeking just their third European U21 Championship title and the first since 1984.
The other semi-final will see Spain take on either France or Ukraine, with the final taking place in Batumi on Saturday 8 July.
