England U21s 1-0 Spain U21s: Player ratings as Young Lions seal Euro Under-21 glory

England ended their 39-year wait for European Under-21 glory with a gritty 1-0 victory over pre-tournament favourites Spain on Saturday to get their hands on the trophy.

A cagey affair was decided late in first-half stoppage time as Cole Palmer's free-kick crashed off the back of Curtis Jones and ricocheted into the Spanish net before anybody could process what had happened.

Spain could've equalised in the 97th minute from the penalty spot but England stopper James Trafford pulled off a glorious double save to seal the victory for the Young Lions.

It was nearly the perfect start for England when Anthony Gordon stung the gloves of Arnau Tenas five minutes in and drove in a low cross just seconds later, but some excellent defending from Jon Pacheco prevented Morgan Gibbs-White from tapping home an opener.

Spain's first sight of goal came eight minutes later through Alex Baena, but the Villarreal midfielder's strike from range fizzed wide of James Trafford's goal.

La Roja started to take control of the possession battle as the clock ticked on and Aitor Paredes watched a header trickle wide from a corner as Spain tried to make the most of their growing control.

The tempo of the first half slowed down as the game descended into a tactical battle, but loose passes and niggly fouls from both sides kept the goalmouth action at a premium.

Levi Colwill headed against the post shortly before the interval, but England squeezed themselves ahead in stoppage time as Palmer's free-kick ended up in the back of the net after a wicked deflection off Jones' back which, somehow, sparked a touchline brawl between the two benches. Red cards were shown to coaches Ashley Cole and Carlos Rivera to bring the half to a close.

Spain had the ball in the back of Trafford's net five minutes after the restart but the offside flag was quickly raised and Abel Ruiz's header was chalked off.

Gibbs-White and Gordon once again failed to combine from close range. The latter's cross was fizzed in at an awkward height for the Nottingham Forest man, who couldn't sort his feet out and squirmed the ball wide.

Jones nearly added a lovely second shortly after but his strike was well kept out by Tenas, while Spain's first shot on target of the entire game came in the 68th minute as Ruiz's low drive landed comfortably in Trafford's hands.

As the clock ticked on, Spain began throwing bodies forwards and putting the England backline under real pressure, but Tenas had to make an excellent save to stop Noni Madueke from netting a late goal which would have killed the game.

With 96 minutes on the clock, Spain were handed a lifeline as VAR clocked a foul on Ruiz from Colwill, but the dominant figure of Trafford saved from Ruiz and kept out the follow-up to steal the headlines and steer England to glory.

England U21s player ratings (4-4-2)

GK: James Trafford - 7/10 - The hero of the day with an excellent penalty save in the dying embers.

RB: James Garner - 7/10 - His biggest test of the tournament but Garner held his own up against the electric Gomez.

CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis - 7/10 - A dominant performance from a player whose stock has risen rapidly in the past 12 months. His summer is most certainly not over here.

CB: Levi Colwill - 8/10 - Solid in the air and impressive with the ball at his feet. Another typical Colwill performance. Unfortunate with the penalty call.

LB: Max Aarons - 6/10 - An uncomfortable first half but Aarons made a major effort to get more involved in attack after the break and England looked better for it.

RM: Cole Palmer - 8/10 - He may not have been credited with the goal but Palmer's performance merited a place on the scoresheet. The Man City midfielder was England's danger man, playing some excellent passes and constantly roaring down the right side of the pitch.

CM: Angel Gomes - 6/10 - Given an early yellow card which impacted his defending. Not his most composed performance but that was always to be expected against a ball-hungry Spain outfit.

CM: Curtis Jones - 7/10 - A mixed performance. Guilty of some sloppy decisions but then flashed his quality against the Spanish press. Knew absolutely nothing about his goal.

LM: Emile Smith Rowe - 5/10 - Felt a little on the fringes for the majority of the game and was hooked midway through the second half after failing to figure out a way to get involved.

ST: Morgan Gibbs-White - 5/10 - A lively performance which wasn't exactly bursting with quality. Sent off in the aftermath of the penalty despite not even being on the pitch.

ST: Anthony Gordon - 6/10 - Gordon made an astonishing start to the game but couldn't maintain that level once Spain started to get going.

Substitutes

Noni Madueke (67' for Smith Rowe) - 7/10

Oliver Skipp (73' for Gomes) - 6/10

Cameron Archer (73' for Gibbs-White) - 6/10

Harvey Elliott (82' for Palmer) - N/A

Tommy Doyle (82' for Gordon) - N/A

Subs not used: Griffiths, Rushworth, Thomas, Johnson, Branthwaite, Cresswell

Manager

Lee Carsley - 7/10 - Read the game well and made the necessary substitutions to earn the desired result. Knew when to call time on Smith Rowe and the decision to introduce Skipp was an intelligent one.

Spain U21s player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Arnau Tenas - 7/10 - A solid showing from Tenas. Could do absolutely nothing about the opening goal but did well to stop Jones and Madueke from adding to the scoreline.

RB: Victor Gomez - 7/10 - Did a great job of stopping Smith Rowe from getting involved.

CB: Aitor Paredes - 6/10 - Put himself about in the air and came just inches away from heading his side in front.

CB: Jon Pacheco - 7/10 - Another top showing from Pacheco, whose early challenge on Gibbs-White was just as good as a goal.

LB: Juan Miranda - 6/10 - A bit of a scrappy one from Miranda, who didn't always find it easy up against Palmer.

DM: Antonio Blanco - 6/10 - A really impressive performance at the base of Spain's midfield. Played similar to Rodri and even tucked his shirt in as well. Sent off from the bench with the last act of the game.

DM: Alex Baena - 7/10 - Aggressive, occasionally to a fault, but Baena caused countless problems in midfield.

RM: Rodri - 6/10 - Nowhere near his best after an impressive individual tournament.

AM: Oihan Sancet - 7/10 - Excellent movement and passing to try and pick England apart. Unfortunate not to see more success. Surprisingly hooked on the hour mark.

LM: Sergio Gomez - 7/10 - Another impressive attacking display from Gomez, who has undoubtedly sent a message to Pep Guardiola this summer.

ST: Abel Ruiz - 6/10 - England did a great job of limiting Ruiz's involvement but the Braga striker still had his dangerous moments. No idea how he didn't score at least once.

Substitutes

Gabri Veiga (59' for Sancet) - 6/10

Aimar Oroz (59' for Baena) - 6/10

Rodrigo Riquelme (59' for Rodri) - 7/10

Ander Barrenetxea (73' for V. Gomez) - 6/10

Sergio Camello (83' for Blanco) - N/A

Subs not used: Agirrezabala, Roman, Gila, Sanchez, Guillamon, Martinez, Bernabe

Manager

Santi Denia - 6/10 - A few questionable substitutions and perhaps left it a little too long to make any significant changes, but Spain can definitely consider themselves unlucky not to get the win here.

Player of the match - Levi Colwill (England)