Fraizer off as Lions make final

Fraizer Campbell will miss the UEFA Under-21 Championship final after being sent off in a dramatic semi-final against the host nation Sweden on Friday night.

The young United forward came on as a second-half sub for England but a red card in extra-time brought his tournament to an abrupt end, even though Stuart Pearce's side went on to scrape through 5-4 on penalties after drawing 3-3.

At the time of his 60th-minute entrance, Campbell was all set to start Monday's final following Gabriel Agbonlahor's second yellow card of the tournament. The Aston Villa striker's booking was the only blemish on a brilliant first half for England who stormed into a 3-0 lead with goals from Portsmouth defender Martin Cranie and Manchester City centre-back Nedum Onuoha plus an owngoal by Swedish captain Mattias Bjarsmyr.

All the goals arose from corners - Cranie fired the young Lions ahead after 55 seconds following a setpiece, Onuoha turned in the second after a ball came in from the left and when a right-wing cross was delivered at the second attempt, Bjarsmyr diverted Lee Cattermole's flick-on past his own goalkeeper.

Sweden's first goal also came from a wide area when Guillermo Molins pulled the ball back and the tournament's top scorer Marcus Berg buried a low shot past Man City keeper Joe Hart in the 68th minute.

The hosts set up an agonising last quarter-hour for visiting coach Stuart Pearce when they made it 2-3 with Ola Toivonen's exquisite free-kick over the wall; Berg then completed the erosion of England's lead six minutes later, with a fantastic strike set up by Robin Soder.

Campbell's first caution came when referee Cuneyt Cakir found fault with his challenge on Swedish keeper Johan Dahlin towards the end of normal time; the crucial second yellow card followed a foul on Mikael Lustig in the 14th minute of extra-time.

More disciplinary trouble hit England during the penalty shoot-out - goalkeeper Joe Hart, one of five scorers from the spot, was booked for gamesmanship and like Campbell and Agbonlahor, he'll miss the final.

England's other penalties in their triumph were converted by Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott, Wigan's Lee Cattermole and Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson, prior to the decisive miss by Sweden's Guillermo Molins.

Campbell is one of only two United players to have participated in the Under-21 Championships. His fellow Red, winger Zoran Tosic, bowed out after three group stage appearances for Serbia.

Report by Adam Bostock