Home MOVIE NEWS Nketiah bags hat-trick as Hudson-Odoi steals show in England U21 rout

Nketiah bags hat-trick as Hudson-Odoi steals show in England U21 rout

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Nketiah bags hat-trick as Hudson-Odoi steals show in England U21 rout

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Leave the engine running – Callum Hudson-Odoi won’t be stopping long with Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions.

Eddie Nketiah’s hat-trick and Hudson Odoi’s two classy finishes sent Boothroyd’s rampant kids top of their Euro 2021 qualifying group in style at Milton Keynes’ Moo Camp.

And the Chelsea winger, who is still only 18, looked like a teenager in a hurry to make the full England squad again after his express recovery from a ruptured achilles.

Asked if this five-star romp might be the last he sees of Hudson-Odoi, who won two senior caps last season, Boothroyd said: “I hope not – but he has been brilliant for us.

“For a player who has been in the senior team and came back down, he could have been a bit moody, but he has been first-class on and off the pitch.

Hudson-Odoi bagged a brace

“Sometimes you can try too hard to make things happen and they don’t come off, but what he did for us tonight was exceptional.”

Boothroyd has come a long way since his prehistoric “caveman” tactics at Watford and his Grand Old Duke of York tribute act at Northampton, where he marched the Cobblers up to the play-offs and down again to the bottom of the League.

His Three Lions cubs may be a bit callow, but Hudson-Odoi and Manchester City boy wonder Phil Foden will soon be linking up with Gareth Southgate’s lion kings.

If they are really lucky, Southgate’s next generation will escape the ubiquitous racket of that infernal band, which is somehow allowed to infest Under-21 games as well as senior internationals.

The Young Lions celebrate the opener fromt the Chelsea starlet

Boothroyd’s refined approach took just 12 minutes to pay dividends, Lloyd Kelly’s diagonal 40-yard pass picking out Max Aarons, whose cross was volleyed into the roof of the net by Hudson-Odoi from 12 yards.

As the band played on and on, England doubled their advantage inside half an hour as Foden’s corner was met by Kelly at the far post and helped over the line by Leeds’ on-loan striker Nketiah.

Six minutes before the break, the unmarked Nketiah met Dwight McNeil’s cross with a glancing header to make it 3-0.

Easy? You bet it was – and in first-half stoppage time, Hudson-Odoi ran half the length of the pitch before picking his spot in the top corner from 25 yards.

Inevitably, after such a rampant first half, England could not sustain the one-way traffic, and Christoph Baumgartner’s header after 66 minutes gave the Austrians respite from their torture.

But Nketiah completed his treble from sub Rhian Brewster’s cross and was denied a fourth from the penalty spot by Fabian Ehmann’s sprawling save six minutes from time.

Eddie Nketiah bagged three – and should have had a fourth

Arsenal striker Nketiah has yet to start a Championship game on loan at Elland Road, buthas scored six goals in his last four international appearances and Boothroyd insisted: “He is in a brilliant place, learning off a great coach and when he comes to us he is ready and fresh.”

Boothroyd, to his credit, sees the bigger picture beyond his side’s 100 per cent record, saying: “I’ve said it many times before, but the Under-21s is like a paradox really.

“On the one hand, we’ve got to produce players for Gareth and the senior team, which is always the priority.

“But with the players and the depth that we’ve got, we’re expected to win as well.”

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Player Ratings

ENGLAND (3-5-2): Ramsdale 6; Justin 6, Kelly 7, Guehi 7; Aarons 7 (Sessegnon, 61, 6), Davies 6, Foden 8, Willock 7 (Skipp, 74), McNeil 7 (Brewster, 61, 6); Hudson-Odoi 8 (Gallagher, 86), Nketiah 8 (Surridge, 86).

AUSTRIA (4-3-3): Ehmann 7; Malicsek 5, Danso 5, Maresic 5, Friedl 5; Lovric 5 (Halper, 80), Demaku 5 (Muller, 69, 5); Baumgartner 6, Raguz 5 (Schmidt, 69, 5), Meister 5 (Lema, 80); Arase 5 (Grull, 53, 6).

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