Match report: England MU19s 4-0 Serbia
Highlights: England MU19s 4-0 Serbia
See the goals and best of the action as the Young Lions make it two wins from two games at the U19 EURO
England MU19s have booked their place in the UEFA U19 EUROs semi-finals and secured a spot at next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup in emphatic fashion thanks to a 4-0 victory over Serbia.
Sunday’s 2-0 win over Austria meant the Young Lions went into Wednesday night’s clash with Serbia knowing that another victory would guarantee them a top-two finish in their EUROs group.
With only eight teams competing in the U19 EUROs Finals in Slovakia, the top two sides in each group are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals and all four teams will also qualify for the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
And a first-half brace from Tottenham Hotspur striker Dane Scarlett put England in the driving seat before a stunning goal from Carney Chukwuemeka and a late strike from Daniel Jebbison secured qualification with a game to spare in Group B.
The Young Lions will now hope they can continue their 100 per cent record when they face Israel on Saturday.
Ian Foster’s side already know their semi-final opponents will be either France or Italy, with both unbeaten in Group A and facing each other on Friday afternoon.
England took the lead after just five minutes on Wednesday when a dangerous run from Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens was halted by the Serbian defence, only for the ball to fall to Carney Chukwuemeka and his pass to Scarlett was well controlled and the resulting shot nestled in the bottom corner.
Nikola Knezevic forced a decent save from England goalkeeper Matthew Cox and Scarlett also had an effort from distance saved in the first half.
But the Spurs striker wasn’t to be denied his second goal when Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s cross was fumbled into Scarlett by goalkeeper Ognjen Lukic and the ball rebounded in for 2-0.
Serbia offered a threat and Cox was forced into more stops in the second half but the victory was all but guaranteed in the 68th minute courtesy of some Chukwuemeka magic.
The Aston Villa midfielder intercepted the ball midway through the opposition half and after driving forward, calmly curled a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area for his second goal of the tournament.
As the game came towards a close, England had a host of other chances and the victory was rounded off in injury-time when substitute Jebbison slotted the ball underneath the body of Lukic.
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England: 1 Matthew Cox (Brentford), 2 Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Arsenal), 3 Callum Doyle (Manchester City), 4 Tim Iroegbunam (Aston Villa), 6 Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), 8 Carney Chukwuemeka (Aston Villa), 9 Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotpsur), 11 Harvey Vale (Chelsea) (c), 14 Alex Scott (Bristol City), 16 Bashir Humphreys (Chelsea), 18 Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (Borussia Dortmund)
Substitutes: 10 Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa) for Bynoe-Gittens 60’, 7 Alfie Devine (Tottenham Hotspur) for Iroegbunam 60’, 20 Daniel Jebbison (Sheffield United) for Scarlett 70’, 15 Luke Chambers (Liverpool) for Vale 75’, 12 Daniel Oyegoke (Brentford) for Norton-Cuffy 75’
Substitutes not used: 5 Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United), 13 Teddy Sharman-Lowe (GK) (Chelsea), 17 Sam Iling-Junior (Juventus), 19 Liam Delap (Manchester City)
Head coach: Ian Foster
Goals: Dane Scarlett 5’, 40’, Carney Chukwuemeka 68’, Daniel Jebbison 90+1'
Bookings: Tim Iroegbunam 23’, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens 32’