Adrian Blake scored the last-minute winner and Jonathan Macaulay played the full 90 minutes as England Under-18s beat Australia 3-2 in the Lisbon International Tournament yesterday.
England had taken a two-goal lead in the first half, thanks to a quickfire double from Crystal Palace’s Zach Marsh inside the first 20 minutes.
The Aussies staged a fightback though, pulling a goal back before the break as Max Caputo reduced the arrears and then they went in level thanks to Marcus Younis’ equaliser.
Head coach Neil Ryan ensured a share of minutes between his squad with multiple changes in the second half and it paid off.
Blake had come on for Fulham’s Lemar Gordon with 18 minutes to go, and he was in the right place to knock in the winner after the Australian keeper parried a shot.
A couple of days earlier, Blake played 78 minutes as England came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Norway in their opening game.
England will now play their final game of the trip when they face host nation Portugal on Tuesday evening (5pm BST).
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