Nottingham Forest ace Morgan Gibbs-White starred for England Under-21s as they booked a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship.
Lee Carsley's side beat Portugal 1-0 in Sunday's quarter-final tie at the Shengelia Arena in Kutaisi, Georgia. Gibbs-White played the full 90 minutes and set up the winning goal for Anthony Gordon.
The Newcastle winger, operating as a central forward, pounced 10 minutes before half-time to clinically finish a good passing move. Despite some late Portuguese pressure which saw Henrique Araujo’s effort rebound off the crossbar with goalkeeper James Trafford beaten, England – who have yet to concede a goal at the tournament – held on to set up a meeting with Israel, whom they beat 2-0 in the group phase, on Wednesday.
It is the first time since 2017 England have gone this far in the tournament. The only downsides on the night was an injury to Jacob Ramsey and a booking for Norwich right-back Max Aarons, which rules him out of the semi-final.
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Early exchanges saw Liverpool’s Curtis Jones guide a shot wide from just outside the penalty area and Wolves’ Pedro Neto have an effort turned around the post by Trafford. Gordon’s first sight of goal in the 23rd minute from Ramsey’s through-ball was easily saved by Celton Biai but the Portuguese goalkeeper had no chance with his next effort.
Noni Madueke played in Morgan Gibbs-White and he cleverly cut back the ball to Gordon loitering near the penalty spot to confidently sweep home first time.
In first-half added time Taylor Harwood-Bellis produced an important block to deny Tiago Dantas and, after Aarons was booked early in the second half, Levi Colwill did similarly to prevent Araujo having a chance to equalise.
Seconds later the Portugal forward was unsuccessfully appealing for a penalty after a tangle with Harwood-Bellis in the six-yard area as they challenged for a cross before coming even closer to scoring when his header hit the crossbar.
With seconds remaining of regulation time, Neto drilled a free-kick into England’s defensive wall and when Nuno Tavares fired over in the final minute of six added on, Carsley’s side were safe.
Forest recognised Gibbs-White's exploits, posting from the club's official Twitter account: "Another day, another MGW assist." And Reds fans also took to social media to have their say...
@NFFC_EPL: Gibbs-White ripping it up at the #U21EURO
Imagine my shock
Already worth double what we paid
@ForestWatch_: Morgan Gibbs-White has made three assists in three games with England at U21 EURO. That's more than any other player in the competition (@FotMob).
@offical_tftv: Mgw is the best on earth.
@its_rjl: Gibbs-White assist…basically water is wet.
@maccamartin0: Gibbs-White assist? standard procedure.
@CambridgeRed: MGW with the assist. Standard.
@TheFamousCIub: Morgan Gibbs-White doing Morgan Gibbs-White things.
@JakeMeachh: Gibbs-White is very very good at football.
@TheManTheGuy_: Gibbs-White never fails to impress.
@dj_zotov: Another @Morgangibbs27 assist. Just the norm for our Starman.
@KJMsport57: This boy can play.
@Forest_No_22: Morgan Gibbs-White
U17 World Cup Winner
U21 Euro Semi Finalist
And he's RED
@DannyPStewart: #nffc are punching with MGW.
