Walcott brace sinks Germans

England Under-21s defeated Germany Under-21s 2-0 in Leverkusen on Tuesday.

A late brace from substitute Theo Walcott in the second leg at the BayArena meant The Young Lions booked their place in Holland next June with a 3-0 aggregate result.

Both sides had a man sent off in an intriguing contest on Tuesday, as England held on to see off their arch-rivals.

Young Lions boss Peter Taylor opted to play Watford winger Ashley Young ahead of Walcott, who was left on the substitutes' bench.

Despite impressing in the first leg, Wayne Routledge was replaced by Aston Villa youngster Gabriel Agbonlahor in the starting XI.

Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling, meanwhile, was made captain by Germany Under-21 boss Dieter Eilts.

The first half saw plenty of incident between both sides, with the one-goal aggregate margin forcing the young Germans to get forward.

It was the visiting England youngsters who created the first real chance, but Agbonlahor was deemed to have fouled Germany defender Patrick Ochs as he tried to get clear on goal, though the Villa man's shot was saved by Michael Rensing.

The home side started to press forward, with Roberto Hilbert keeping England goalkeeper Scott Carson on his toes with a mis-hit cross that sailed just over the crossbar, while Kevin-Prince Boateng saw a shot sail high and wide of the target.

Then just before the quarter hour mark, Germany's Markus Brzenska was sent off for pulling back striker David Nugent, as the Preston North End hit-man was sent through on goal by England captain Nigel Reo-Coker.

The sending off rattled the hosts, and first-leg goalscorer Leighton Baines came close to doubling England's aggregate advantage after striking a free kick just wide of Rensing's goal.

Despite being a man down, Germany were awarded a penalty by Czech referee Jaroslav Jara after he deemed Newcastle United's Steven Taylor to have pulled back Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez, as he went for a low Kiessling cross.

It looked a dubious decision, and England will feel some justice was handed out when Bayer Leverkusen's Gonzalo Castro struck his spot kick wide of goal.

The half ended with the young Germans creating more chances, with Gomez claiming another penalty after failing to connect with a cross from the left before Kiessling headed Aaron Hunt's cross over the bar.

Werder Bremen man Hunt then created a better chance for Gomez in the England box, but his header flew straight into the arms of Carson.

Despite having the man advantage, The Young Lions struggled to impose themselves in the opening 45 minutes, and that proved the case after the restart.

Just before the hour mark, it was England's turn to lose a player when Taylor was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Gomez.

The red card lifted the hosts, but they nearly conceded a goal, as Young missed the target after connecting with Agbonlahor's cross on the counter-attack.

The Germans then created a glorious opportunity to level the tie, but Gomez failed to direct home Hunt's corner from the right before England defender Micah Richards made a crucial clearance of a far-post cross from the right.

Despite having much of the possession, Germany struggled to make the vital breakthrough, with Boateng striking a shot at Carson before Hunt missed the target with his effort.

Their forward pressing created space at the other end for England to exploit, with Young striking the side-netting with an excellent chance before Reo-Coker forced some desperate goalkeeping from Rensing.

Six minutes from time, Baines exposed Germany's gaps at the back when he picked out 17-year-old sub Walcott with a forward ball, and the Arsenal starlet made no mistake with his chance by slipping the ball past Rensing.

The goal killed the young Germans off, and Walcott used his pace and finish to strike a second goal just before the end to see England through to Holland next summer.