James McAtee pays tribute to tragic pal George Baldock as Man City star scores dramatic late brace in England U21s win

JAMES McATEE paid tribute to George Baldock after scoring a late brace to seal an epic comeback against Ukraine.

McAtee twice lifted his shirt to reveal the name of his old Sheffield United team-mate, who was found dead in a swimming pool on Wednesday.

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The Manchester City star has played alongside the former Greece defender at Bramall Lane on loan for the last two seasons.

And after his two great finishes for the Young Lions, McAtee peeled back his shirt to reveal a white top that said ‘GB 2 REST EASY BROTHER X’.

Before kick-off, the 21-year-old posted: “I love you more than anything brother, thank you for taking care of me and thank you also for the memories we shared together.”

“My thoughts go out to your amazing family. Special player, special teammate, special person.”

On the pitch, it looked like the Young Lions would suffer the same fate as the senior team the night before when Dynamo Kyiv defender Taras Mykhavko gave Ukraine the lead after 70 minutes at a sold-out Vitality Stadium.

But McAtee, who has only played one Premier League game for City this season, saved the day with a wild shot into the top corner in the 88th minute.

Finally, two minutes later, he fired a fierce low shot for the winner to give Pep Guardiola pause after his first-ever City goal against Slovan Bratislava a week ago.

The defending champions are now two points behind Group F leaders Ukraine and have one more game to play against Azerbaijan next Tuesday, while the league leaders face Serbia.

England held the lead for most of the game, with Ipswich’s Omari Hutchinson being fed by Aston Villa’s Jaden Philogene but firing over the bar.

The best chance of the first half came in the 23rd minute when McAtee hit the hands of the onrushing Ruslan Neshcheret with a raspy shot from close range.

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The Young Lions had fire in their bellies after the break as Neshcheret directed Liam Delap’s rocket strike over the crossbar before McAtee shot agonizingly wide moments later.

However, England were wasteful in front of goal and wasted another chance when Philogene broke free in front of goal but shot straight at Neshcheret.

The hosts shied away from their defensive duties and Kostiantyn Vivcharenko almost scored before Jack Hinshelwood cleared the danger.

England should have seen the warning signs when Mykhavko headed home Oleh Ocheretko’s inch-perfect corner with half an hour to go.

The hosts had a golden chance to get back into the game when Maksym crashed into McAtee on the edge of the box before the winger equalized and scored the winner.

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