Carroll goal enough for England in Czech Republic

• England beat the Under-21 finals hosts 1-0 in Prague thanks to Tom Carroll
• Patrizio Stronati earns first cap for Czech Republic U21s
• Calum Chambers, Matt Targett and Marcus Bettinelli make England debuts
• Czech Republic next play Portugal in Prague on Tuesday
• England face Germany in Middlesbrough on Monday

Tom Carroll got the goal that gave England a morale-boosting 1-0 win away to UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals hosts the Czech Republic.

Both teams started positively. Jaromír Zrmhal headed over the bar from Jiří Skalák's cross and eight minutes later the visitors worked a good shooting position, only for Cauley Woodrow to miss on the turn.

Watford FC forward Matěj Vydra came very close in 35th minute when his low drive beat English goalkeeping debutant Marcus Betinelli, but Carroll was there to clear off the line.

England took the lead from the first attack after the break. The Czech defence was unable to clear Calum Chambers's precise cross from the left and Carroll scored with a well-placed right-footed effort.

James Ward-Prowse forced a diving save from Jiří Pavlenka with a header in the 57th minute and at the other end Vydra hit the side of the post from a difficult angle. While England manager Gareth Southgate used more substitutions, Jakub Dovalil kept his side almost intact up to 70th minute but the game lost momentum.

Five minutes from time Nathan Redmond ran clear and found substitute Jesse Lingard whose volley was deflected wide. John Stones met the corner with a header that Pavlenka tipped over.

Czech Republic: Pavlenka; Holeš, Kalas, Stronati, Hanousek; Skalák, Trávník (Houska 83), Petrák, Zmrhal, Petrák (Takács 70), Frýdek (Masopust 61); Vydra (Přikryl 71).

England: Bettinelli; Chambers (Jenkinson 62), Keane, Moore (Stones 70), Targett (Garbutt 46); Ward-Prowse, Forster-Caskey; Redmond, Carroll (Hughes 53), Pritchard (Lingard 62); Woodrow (Ings 62).