Slick Russia complete finals passage

Russia defeated England 2-1 in Scunthorpe to win Group 7 and qualify for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals.

Proud record
As the only nation to have qualified for each of the four previous U17 final tournaments, England knew they had to defeat their visitors to stand a chance of reaching this year's edition in Luxembourg. They set about that task in style, opening the scoring after five minutes as Michael Nardiello volleyed in Paul Rodgers' superb cross from the right-hand side from close range.

Fine goals
Russia refused to buckle, and were level in the 13th minute as Alexander Prudnikov touched a Dmitry Ryzhov header into the path of Igor Gorbatenko who drilled the ball beyond England goalkeeper David Button. Russia's second, and ultimately decisive, goal in the 21st minute was a strike of sheer quality as Semen Fomine latched on to a loose ball and volleyed it from 22 metres into the top corner of the net.

'Best team won'
England coach John Peacock, for whom this was a first defeat in a qualifying match, said: "We're disappointed, but I think the best team won today and won the tournament and I have no complaints about that. Having got into an early lead I was hoping we could have pushed on from that but I think the Russians had a bit too much for us both physically and technically and on the day they were the better team."