England back on track

Fae sent off
Ridgewell headed England ahead on 41 minutes and Routledge sealed the victory in injury time after France had been reduced to ten men by the 68th-minute dismissal of Emmers Fae. England are now second in Group B with three points behind group winners Austria while France sit third with one point.

Ridgewell clearance
England's game plan was to sit back and hit France on the break and a consequence was that the French created the better chances. On 26 minutes, it took a goal-line clearance from Ridgewell to keep the England goal intact after Sylvain Idangar had beaten Luke Steele with a shot across goal.

Against run of play
Idangar again and Sébastien Grax both spurned opportunities before Steele kept out a close-range Jérémie Berthod header. It was against the run of play then that England scored. Routledge swung in a cross from the left and centre-back Ridgewell headed past Florent Chaigneau.

Threw ball
Five minutes after the restart and England were under pressure again as Steele tipped Mourad Meghny's free-kick over the crossbar. Fae was desperately close to an equaliser when his low drive rebounded off a post but it would be his final contribution as within moments Dutch referee Ruud Bossen had shown him a straight red card for throwing the ball at Ciaran Donnelly in retaliation to a trip by the England midfield player.

Routledge adds second
Against ten men, England began to create chances on the break and Routledge added the second in the third minute of injury time when he turned the ball in at the far post from a Lee Croft cross.