Keating and Prior help England U23 to hard-fought win over France | OneFootball

Khiara Keating and Gracie Prior helped England reach the semi-finals of the WU23 European Competition with a 1-0 win over France.

The duo played the full 90 minutes at Clairefontaine as the Young Lionesses came away from the French national football centre with a gutsy victory.

It was Bristol City forward Lexi Lloyd-Smith who grabbed the only goal of the game just before the break, when she found the net with a vicious drive.

England had gone close to the opener in the previous passage of play when Erica Parkinson struck the post after a mazy run, but the visitors recycled the ball well to set up Lloyd-Smith’s decisive chance.

France piled on the pressure in the second half but Keating, Prior and co. stood up to the challenge to preserve the clean sheet.

England could even have made it two at the other end when they struck the post once again, this time through U23 debutant Meg Collett, but they settled for a hard-fought 1-0 win in France.

The U23s are back in action on Friday 6 March when they host the Netherlands at Shrewsbury Town’s New Meadow.

Kick-off is at 19:00 (UK), so make sure to come back to mancity.com and the official Man City app for a rundown on how Keating and Prior have fared.