Sweden U21 0-0 England U21 – BBC Sport

Everton’s £30m signing Jordan Pickford saved a late penalty as England opened their European Under-21 Championship campaign with a draw against Sweden.

The 23-year-old stuck out an arm to stop Linus Wahlqvist’s poor spot-kick and also saved Carlos Strandberg’s tame follow-up.

However, it was an underwhelming display by England, who only had one effort on target.

Sweden had the best chance when Pawel Cibicki’s strike came off the bar.

England have managed only one win in their last 10 matches in the competition.

They also face Poland and Slovakia in Group A.

• Relive the action from the Kielce Stadium

England struggle in Euro opener

<!–

It is a match that will not live long in the memory of those who watched it.

England manager Aidy Boothroyd set up his team to attack the Swedes out wide in the final third. However, more often than not the balls into the area failed to find his players. It was immediacy rather than accuracy from England.

Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, linked with a move to Newcastle or Brighton after a fruitful loan spell at Bristol City, had a couple of half-chances in the first 45 minutes – instinctive hooked shots that cleared the Sweden bar. Norwich’s Jacob Murphy went closer with a strike from 20 yards that flew just over.

England’s best opportunity came after the break when Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse saw his 25-yard free-kick pushed away by Swedish keeper Anton Cajtoft, who had a largely untroubled 90 minutes.

Sweden, on the other hand, were unlucky not to go in front in the second half. First, Cibicki’s stunning effort bounced off the woodwork and then substitute Strandberg was through on goal but found the side-netting with his strike.

In the 80th minute, it seemed that Sweden’s luck was about to change when Leicester defender Ben Chilwell brought down Wahlqvist in the area. The Norrkoping defender took the penalty, but his weak strike was stopped easily by Pickford who then stayed upright to collect Strandberg’s effort.

‘England will feel it is a good result’ – analysis

BBC Radio 5 live’s chief football correspondent Ian Dennis

England applauded a small band of supporters, while Sweden acknowledged their massed ranks decked in yellow.

Boothroyd’s side will feel it’s a good result against the defending champions who will rue their squandered set-back.

It’s always important never to lose your opening fixture, however, England haven’t won theirs in these finals since 2009.

‘We are reasonably happy’

England manager Aidy Boothroyd: “Chilwell got the ball but the directive is that you can’t go off your feet. These are the moments which change games and we’ve got a terrific goalkeeper.

“In an ideal world, you play really well and win the game but what you don’t want to do is lose. It was a typical opening game of a tournament, both teams could have played better. Overall it was a fair result.

“We could have moved the ball quicker and attacked crosses better. A lot of the players haven’t played 90 minutes for a long time and are feeling it. We are reasonably happy, made a solid start.”