England beat the Czech Republic in their opening match of the 2023 Under-21 European Championship on Thursday at the Batumi Arena in Georgia.

Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey opened the scoring early in the second half and Arsenal winger Emile Smith Rowe added a second for England late in the game to reach the final 2-0 scoreline.

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Following a scoreless first half, England found their opener minutes after the restart when Ramsey latched onto a pass from Anthony Gordon and shot past Czech keeper Vitezslav Jaros to put the Young Lions in the lead.

It was Ramsey’s fourth goal in 11 appearances for England’s U21 side, with the Villa midfielder building on a strong finish to his Premier League campaign that saw him score against both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool as Unai Emery’s team secured a spot in the Europa Conference League.

With the three points nearly in the bag, Smith Rowe tacked on a second for Lee Carsley’s side, which continues Group C play against Israel on June 25 before playing Germany on June 28.

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