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Goals from Lee Cattermole and Micah Richards gave a 10-man England U21 side a 2-1 win over Finland at the European Championships in Sweden.

Playing in Halmstand, Cattermole put the pre-tournament favourites in front before the quarter-hour mark but - after Michael Mancienne was dismissed for a professional foul - Tim Sparv levelled from the spot.

Manchester City defender Richards won the match with a header early in the second half but England were far from convincing against the tournament minnows and will have a mini-defensive crisis as the match-winner limped off injured while Mancienne will likely receive a two-match ban.

The English were woeful in the first half, unsure at the back and lacking penetration up front, while star man Theo Walcott barely touched the ball and was brought off at half-time.

Finland, meanwhile, were aggressive, direct and rather big in all areas of the park: striker Berat Sadik stands 6'3.5" and was supported by 6'4" former Southampton trainee Sparv and 6'1" midfielder Mehmet Hetemaj, not to mention a burly back four.

Macedonian-born, Arminia Bielefeld target-man Sadik had two good chances to put the Finns ahead as high balls wreaked havoc in the England defence.

On six minutes Mancienne let the ball bounce and was lucky that Sadik was slow off the mark with Joe Hart stranded in no-man's land.

Three minutes later Sadik again exploited hesitant defending to race clear, before appearing to be brought down by Kieran Gibbs. Finland demanded a penalty but replays showed that Sadik tripped over his own feet and England survived.

Despite playing poorly, Stuart Pearce's side took the lead against the run of play when, on 14 minutes, Cattermole finished from close range after Gabriel Agbonlahor snuck past Jonas Portin on the left wing.

That was about it for England's first half though.

Just after the half hour Mancienne committed an identical mistake to that which almost let Sadik in on six minutes except, this time, the Finland hit-man got ahead of him, forcing the Chelsea youngster to haul him down, give away a penalty and earn a straight red card.

Sparv - who plays for local Allesvenskan side Halmstad - made no mistake with a coolly-slotted spot-kick into the bottom left corner, and the momentum was back with the Finns.

Lively winger Preparim Hetemaj, elder brother of Mehmet, almost gave Finland the lead in first-half injury time when he turned on the edge of the box and fired just over Hart's crossbar.

Despite being a man down, England's second-half performance was considerably better.

James Milner played a deeper role after Mancienne's dismissal but he still had an effect at the other end of the pitch.

On 52 minutes his 30-yard free-kick was palmed over by keeper Anssi Jaakkola and his delivery from the subsequent corner was met by Richards, who powered a header into the bottom right after an imperious leap.

England then tried to close the game down, giving the Finns little space while looking to hit them on the break.

But, a man light and with Finland using overlapping full-backs, England tired and Markku Kanerva's side stretched their more illustrious opponents.

Late substitute Jussi Vasara looked lively after he was introduced and put a near-post header into the side netting with three minutes left, but despite being placed under heavy pressure, England held on for an unmemorable but vital win.

Germany face Spain in the second Group B match later on Monday.

Reda Maher / Eurosport