- Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray featured for England Under-21s against Slovakia on Monday night
- The young Lions went top of Group A after coming from behind to eventually prevail 2-1 in Kielce
- Alfie Mawson and Nathan Redmond scored for Aidy Boothroyd's men after stalemate with Sweden
- The injured Bartosz Kapustka missed out for Poland against Sweden later in the evening in Lublin
Ben Chilwell completed 90 minutes and Demarai Gray came off the bench as England Under-21s came from behind to defeat Slovakia 2-1 at the UEFA Euro U21 Championships in Poland on Monday.
The Leicester City duo, who made a combined 63 appearances last term, are among four from Craig Shakespeare’s squad to participate at the competition this summer alongside Polish midfielder Bartosz Kapustka and Denmark goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Following an opening day 0-0 stalemate with holders Sweden on Friday evening, the young Lions were facing the possibility of a premature departure from the 2017 Championships when Martin Chrien headed the Slovaks ahead at the Kielce Stadium inside 21 minutes.
Aidy Boothroyd’s men rallied at the interval, however, and they restored parity on the scoresheet within five minutes of the restart through Alfie Mawson, with the Swansea City centre-back getting a head to Jacob Murphy’s astute cross.
In the 61st minute, England got themselves ahead when Southampton pair James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond combined, allowing the latter to curl it beyond Adrián Chovan. With 10 minutes to go, Gray replaced John Swift and the 20-year-old made an immediate impact with his powerful wing play.
Both Chilwell and Gray, who ended the match as England’s main outlets down the left flank, have appeared in each of the young Lions’ two fixtures thus far ahead of the Group A finale against hosts Poland on Thursday (7:45pm kick-off).
Massive 3 points, great character to dig deep and get the win🦁🦁🦁@England pic.twitter.com/r8kRB012st
— Ben Chilwell (@BenChilwell) June 19, 2017
That fixture could see them line up against City team-mate Kapustka, who did not feature for his country's U21s against Sweden on Monday through injury. Iversen, meanwhile, may also appear for Denmark when they take on Germany on Wednesday.