Super-sub Lukas Nmecha’s injury-time winner sent England into the final of the UEFA U19 European Championship at the expense of Czech Republic.
With only seconds to spare, the Manchester City striker cleverly flicked home Marcus Edwards’ pass from the right to spark jubilation for the Young Lions in Tbilisi.
The late strike – coming at the end of three allotted minutes – sets up a final against Portugal, who beat the Netherlands 1-0 earlier in the day, on Saturday.
It will be England’s first appearance in the final of this tournament since 2009, when they lost out 2-0 to the Ukraine in Donetsk.
Nmecha, who had entered the fray on the hour mark, had made up for an missing a glorious just three minutes earlier as England looked destined for extra time and a potential penalty shoot-out.
The possession statistic at the break – 50%-50% - told the story of a tight first-half for the Young Lions against a well-drilled Czech side on a balmy evening at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.
Dujon Sterling, playing in a more advanced role, watched his effort land on the roof of the net early on, but England struggled to make a breakthrough after that.
Jay Dasilva had the best chance of the half in the 39th minute. While their opponents probed at the other end with little joy, the England skipper hit a thunderous low drive from the left that struck the base of the far post.
As the game started to open up after the break, Ryan Sessegnon had the ball in the net in the 69th minute when Mason Mount’s free-kick was kept alive in the box by Sterling but his through-ball found the Fulham man in an offside position as he tapped home.
