A powerful header by Micah Richards gave the young lions a 2-1 win against a strong and determined Finland side despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half.
Micah Richards leapt above the Finnish defence to meet a corner by James Milner sending the ball into the bottom corner in the 52nd minute.
England had taken the lead on 15 minutes when Lee Cattermole capitalised on defensive hesitation and paced the ball past Finland goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola, but Finland equalised from the penalty spot when Michael Mancienne (pictured) brought down Berat Sadik in the area. The Chelsea defender was sent off for the challenge.
It was a tentative start by England and Finland looked comfortable in possession. It was England however who drew first blood. Gabriel Agbonlahor dispossessed Joni Aho at right-back. He played the ball across the box, while the defence hesitated, and Cattermole nipped in to hit a low shot past the goalkeeper.
Finland responded well though with Sadik in particular causing problems in the England defence. He chased onto a long ball and Joe Hart in the England goal and his defender, Mancienne, seemed to leave the ball to each other. Mancienne however managed to get the ball away.
Mancienne was not so lucky just before half-time when Sadik got the better him inside the area, and the Chelsea man brought the Finn down for a penalty.
The Turkish referee sent Mancienne off for his efforts. Former Southampton man, Tim Sparv, stepped up to send Hart the wrong way and raced into the vocal Finnish crowd.
It looked like an uphill struggle for England, they were second best in the game and now down to ten men. Martin Crainie stepped in for Mancienne at centre-back and Milner moved back to occupy the right-back position.
Theo Walcott, who had had a fairly ineffectual game was replaced at half-time by Frazier Campbell raising a few eyebrows.
But the substitution seemed to galvanize England and they took the lead when, in the 53rd minute, Richards towering header nestled in the bottom corner of the net from Milner's corner.
Goalscorer Richards was then taken off with an injury after landing awkwardly adding to England's defensive woes.
With only ten men, England were coping well and the Finns were limited to a couple of long shots until substitute Pukki wriggled clear in the box. The Sevilla striker shot from a narrow angle and Hart parried the ball, it was then hurriedly cleared by the defence.
The young lions held out however, and go into their next game against Spain top of the group knowing a victory would be enough to take them through.
Photo Credit: John_Dobbo
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