Source: Manchester_EveningNews
Smalling on target for England U-21s
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling was on target as England Under-21s defeated Romania 2-1 in the first leg of their European Championship qualifier. Boss Stuart Pearce had warned Romania would be no pushovers, having won their group in impressive fashion, and so it proved, with second-half goals from Jordan Henderson and Smalling giving England the lead. The visitors were not just content to sit back as Dinamo Bucharest youngster Marius Alexe, a reported target for Chelsea, looked lively in attack while skipper Gabriel Torje struck the post a minute before the interval before an unfortunate deflection off Ryan Bertrand handed Romania an away goal. "We knew exactly what they were going to offer, and it was a really tight game," Pearce said. "It is totally in the balance for Tuesday night, but we are going to go to Romania and try to win another game."
