England Under 21s were knocked out of the European Under-21 Championship by two late goals from the Czech Republic, the BBC reports. England looked on course for the semi-finals when Danny Welbeck headed them into a 76th-minute lead in the must-win game. But a last-minute equaliser from Jan Chramosta and a breakaway second from Tomas Pekhart sent England crashing out. The Czech youngsters will now meet Switzerland in Wednesday's semi-final. Manchester United's new signing Phil Jones was the replacement captain for the dropped Michael Mancienne, while Tom Cleverley, Fabrice Muamba and Scott Sinclair all came in to a new look side. Daniel Sturridge created England's first chance in the 10th minute, picking out Welbeck, who stole a yard on the edge of the box but could only shoot at Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik from an angle. England keeper Frankie Fielding was then forced into save of his own, with a reflex reaction to tip Lukas Marecek's improvised volley from the edge of the box over the bar as the Czechs took control of the game for a spell. England nearly sparked an opening again in the 27th minute, with a patient passing move that ended with Ryan Bertrand's chipping a cross to Cleverley at the back post, but the Manchester United man fired into the side netting. England struggled for ideas as the Czechs allowed them to have possession deep in midfield, and gave the ball away cheaply throughout. Liverpool's big-money signing Jordan Henderson was among the offenders and he was replaced by Henri Lansbury halfway through the second half. The Arsenal youngster immediately added some creativity to the England side, and his cleverly disguised reverse pass to Sinclair almost resulted in a goal. England eventually took the lead they needed when Sturridge's cross was headed in well be Welbeck. Stuart Pearce's team were heading for the semi-final at that stage before some scrappy defending and a poked finish from substitute Chramosta resulted in a heartbreaking equaliser. Former Spurs youth player Pekhart added the knockout blow as England pushed for a stoppage time winner. Manager Stuart Peace said: "We are disappointed as a group as we felt after taking the lead we should have held on to it. "They didn't really cause us a problem all evening defensively but we switched off for a minute, it falls to their player, and it's 1-1. The second goal was neither here nor there. "It was probably the best performance of the tournament. But perhaps us going home now was symptomatic of us not passing the ball well enough in the first two games."
