International watch: Bartley plays 90 minutes for England u-17s

Israel 2 England 2 

Arsenal defender Kyle Bartley played 90 minutes as England were held to a 2-2 draw by Israel in the final match of their Elite round qualifying campaign. England’s hopes of reaching the finals had already been eradicated before the match had started. A 1-1 draw in their opening game against USA, coupled with a 3-2 defeat to Russia on Thursday, meant that it was mathematically impossible for England to reach the finals.

So, the Three Lions were playing for pride against Israel, and manager John Peacock took the opportunity to hand starts to several players who hadn’t featured in the previous two matches. Bartley was one of those and he took his place in a starting line-up containing highly rated youngsters John Bostock and Jacob Mellis. It was Mellis who got the ball rolling on 11 minutes when the Chelsea player latched on to Donaldson’s through ball to score. Israel responded through Mohammed Gadir and then took the lead through Samir Hakim on 62 minutes. However, Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneuso struck ten minutes from time to earn England a share of the spoils. Jack Wilshere was an un-used substitute.

England finished bottom of their group on two points, a far cry from last year’s under-17 side containing the likes of Henri Lansbury and Rhys Murphy reached the Finals of the tournament.

It was Gilles Sunu’s France who qualified for the finals, after they beat Russia 3-1.

Loan watch:Vela plays 76 minutes as Osasuna win

SUNDAY’S MATCHES

Carlos Vela- Getafe 0 Osasuna 1

Carlos recovered from the thigh injury which ruled him out of Mexico’s friendly with Ghana last week and started the game for Osasuna alongside Kike Sola. This is how both sides lined up:

Getafe:

———————-Abbondanzieri———————–

—-Contra——Tena—————-De La Red—–Matias Licht

—G.Cotelo—–Casquero————Celestini——-Granero

————————–Del Moral—————————

————————–Uche——————————-

subs: Cortes (for G.Cotelo, 46) , Albin (for Casquero, 62), Mario (for Celestini, 73).

Not used:Gavilan, Sousa, Nobrega, Ustari.

Booked: Contra, Tena, Celestini

Sent off: Contra

Osasuna:

———————Ricardo——————————

–Azpilicueta—–Cruchaga———–Flano———–Monreal

–Torres———Punal————–Astudillo——–Plasil

——————Sola—————Vela——————

subs: Dady (for Sola, 66), Font (for Vela, 76) , Corrales (for Torres)

Not used: Viana,Elio, Flano, Igotz Garde.

Booked: Punal, Monreal, Vela, Torres, Dady, Cruchaga

Goals: Flano, Punal

Getafe dominated much of the first-half, but didn’t have a goal to show for all their possession. Vela had a chance on the edge of the box, but spurned the opportunity wide. Getafe had Contra sent off for two bookable offences and Osasuna were determined to make their advantage count and they did when centre-back Flano found the back of the net just before half-time.

Half time- Getafe 0 Osasuna 1

Osasuna began the second half in the same way that they finished the first. Kike Sola came close with an effort, before Vela hit a shot wide. Osasuna doubled their advantage through Punal on 69 minutes and it was a deserved reward for a decent display. Vela picked up a booking for a reckless challenge and was replaced by Hector Font soon after. Carlos had put in a decent display and was looking a little bit tired at this point, so it was the right decision to take him off. Font partnered fellow substitute Dady for the remainder of the game and the pair created a couple of chances between them but to no avail.

Full time- Getafe 0 Osasuna 2

Fran Merida- Real Sociedad 1 Racing Club Ferrol 2

Fran made a late substitute appearance as Real Sociedad lost 2-1 at home to Racing Club Ferrol. Jonathan scored from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time to give the visitors the lead. Carlier added a second for Ferrol ten minutes from time. Sociedad pulled a late goal back through Martinez but it was too little too late for the home side.

Pedro Botelho- Salamanca 1 Eibar 0 (Latest score)

Pedro was not in the starting line-up for Salamanca against Eibar. Salamanca took the lead through a Rodriguez penalty on eight minutes.

Vincent van den Berg- Stormvogels Telstar Combanatie 1 Go Ahead Eagles 2

Vincent didn’t feature as Go Aheas Eagles scraped a 2-1 win over Stormvogels Telstar Combanatie. Oosthout put the away side ahead after eight minutes, before a Scoenmakers own goal brought Telstar back into the game. The match looked like it was going to end in a draw, but Turk netted in the final minute of the game to win it for Go Ahead Eagles.

SATURDAY’S MATCHES

Mark Randall- Burnley 2 Barnsley 1

Mark was an unused substitute as Burnley beat Barnsley 2-1 at Turf Moor. The Clarets went ahead thanks to goals Wade Elliott and Kyle Lafferty. Barnsley pulled one back just before half-time through Brian Howard, but Owen Coyle’s side held on for all three points. Burnley moved up to 10th place because of this result.

Kieran Gibbs- Bristol City 2 Norwich City 1

Kieran was an unused substitute as Norwich were defeated 2-1 by promotion chasing Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Dele Adebola put the home side 1-0 up on 41 minutes, but Darren Huckerby pulled one back for the Canaries with 20 minutes to go. Substitute Steven Brooker scored the winner for Bristol City three minutes into stoppage time. Norwich are now in danger of relegation as they are currently in 17th place in the table.

Jay Simpson- Bournemouth 2 Millwall 0

Jay played the full 90 minutes as Millwall suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Max Gradel scored the first goal of the game for the home side on 75 minutes from the penalty spot and then added a second with a minute to go. Millwall are now two places and five points clear of the relegation zone with five games to play.

Platini intends to stop Arsenal ’stealing’ young players

Platini is unhappy that Arsenal have signed so many young foreigners, such as Ignasi Miquel (above)

UEFA president Michel Platini has revealed that he intends to stop Arsenal signing young players from other clubs, particularly those overseas. It’s not just the Gunners under the microscope, Man.Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been highlighted. However, it seems Arsenal are the worst offenders and there is evidence to back that up. Last month, it was announced that we had completed the signing of Ignasi Miquel from Cornella, but this is only the most recent of moves. Go back five years and you may remember a young Cesc Fabregas coming to Arsenal. That may not be the best example as he was looking for a move out of Barcelona, but there are others as well. The likes of Havard Nordtveit and Gilles Sunu are recent examples.

The fact of the matter is, many people accuse Arsenal of having too many foreign players in their academy, but look around and you will see that less than half of the Academy is foreign. Wojciech Szczesny, Cedric Evina, Nacer Barazite, Rui Fonte and Gilles Sunu are the only foreigners who have been regulars for the under-18s this season.

Some might argue that Arsenal poach many of their youngsters from other clubs, and this is a fair point. Several former Wimbledon players are at the club, including the likes of Mark Randall, Kieran Gibbs, Rhys Murphy and James Dunne. Last summer Anton Blackwood and Kyle Bartley, two young English defenders were brought in from other English academies. Then, in January there was of course the move which saw Luke Freeman move to Arsenal. After the Freeman transfer, Gillingham praised Arsenal for acting in a ‘civilised’ way and deals like this are not a problem.

Arsenal may have been accused because of their lack of English talent, but the fact of the matter is we produce decent English players for other clubs, David Bentley and Ashley Cole are just two examples. I was going to say Pennant as well, but then again we did sign him from Notts County when he was fifteen!