England Under-21 3 Norway Under-21 1: Bentley hits double as England cruise past Norway
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Your support makes all the difference.Much of David Bentley's career has been enigmatic, partially due to his penchant for fanciful football rather than functionality, but this performance had all the hallmarks of a well-rounded forward. He exhibited his new-found maturity recently with a hat-trick against Manchester United, andagain with two strikes that finished off the young Norwegians last night.
Bentley featured on the left of England's five-man midfield in a wide row and then, in the second half, on the left of a narrower four-man midfield in which he cut in regularly. England's manager Peter Taylor was impressed. "His movement was excellent, his touch was excellent and his two goals were first class," he said.
England were unlucky when Anton Ferdinand's shot was deflected on to the bar by Rune Jarstein. Norway's resistance cracked though when Bentley was brought down by Bore Steenslid - Peter Whittingham scored from the free-kick with a low drive.
England were caught out defensively after the break, however, when Erik Huseklepp's corner was converted by a powerful header from Steenslid, who evaded Ferdinand far too easily.
The response was rapid. Wayne Routledge created Bentley's first after bursting forward and teeing up the Blackburn attacker who took a nifty touch to skip beyond Steenslid and score. Tom Huddlestone's wayward shot set up the second, as the ball fell to Bentley who opted for placement over power. He nearly conjured a remarkable hat-trick, before he was substituted, but his audacious finish was too flashy showing that he has not lost all his childlike enthusiasm.
England Under-21 (4-5-1): Carson (Liverpool); Johnson (Chelsea), Ferdinand (West Ham United), Ridgewell (Aston Villa), Whittingham (Aston Villa); Routledge (Portsmouth), Bentley (Blackburn Rovers), Reo-Coker (West Ham United), Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Milner (Aston Villa); Nugent (Preston North End). Substitutes used: Camp (Derby County) for Carson h-t; Hoyte (Sunderland) for Johnson, 65; Taylor (Middlesbrough) for Whittingham, 65; Davies (West Bromwich Albion) for Ridgewell, h-t; Soares (Crystal Palace) for Milner, h-t; Welsh (Hull City) for Bentley, 73; Lita (Reading) for Reo-Coker, h-t; Jerome (Cardiff City) for Nugent.
Norway Under-21 (4-5-1): Jarstein (Odd Grenland); Onstad (Lyn Oslo), Steenslid (Sogndal), Gabrielsen (Viking), Holmvik (Stabaek); Huseklepp (Brann), Samuelsen (Viking), Tettey (Rosenborg), Sokolowski (Lyn Oslo), Holm (Valerenga); Myklebust (Lillestrom). Substitutes used: Hagen (Mandalskameratene) for Onstad, Reginiussen (Tromso) for Huseklepp, 86; Hogli (Bodo/Glimt) for Tettey, 73; Mathisen (Valerenga) for Sokolowski, 85; Larsen (Lyn Oslo) for Holmvik, h-t; Nystrom (Moss) for Myklebust, 65;
Referee: J Attard (Malta).
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