Report: Luxembourg 0-3 England MU21s

Liam Delap and Callum Doyle marked their England men's under-21 international debuts with goals in a 3-0 Euro Qualifying win over Luxembourg on Monday night.

England had a one-goal lead at half time thanks to Delap, who struck in the 43rd minute after an opening period which Lee Carsley’s side dominated, but had been unable to find a decisive breakthrough.

But it was a different story in the second half, with Doyle also netting on his first MU21 appearance before a further strike from yet another of the Manchester City academy alumni in the squad Cole Palmer rounding off the evening.

Just eight minutes in, Harvey Elliott opened up space in the box and was only denied by a superb block from Massimo Agostinelli, before the Liverpool midfielder sent a long-range effort just wide from the resulting corner.

Nathan Wood also had two headed chances inside the opening twenty minutes that could have given England the lead, nodding over from his first attempt and simply being unable to direct it away from Luxembourg ‘keeper Eldin Latik a few minutes later.

On his MU21 debut, Samuel Illing-Junior flashed a shot over in the 16th minute that was perhaps the best of the early chances, while Palmer saw a speculative effort stopped comfortably by Latik.

Palmer again came close with another strike from distance, which needed to be headed away by Franz Sinner to force a corner, while Noni Madueke fired a low effort just wide.

And, moments after Latik stopped Palmer’s chip, Delap finally broke the deadlock as he poked home from six yards out.

There was no let up from the Young Lions at the start of the second half, continuing to dominate possession in their quest for a second goal.

But the hosts were able to threaten at times, a good spell on the ball near the hour mark ending when Gonçalves saw a low shot easily stopped by James Trafford.

Any chance of a Luxembourg response was surely ended in the 58th minute, when Doyle added a deserved second from a Madueke assist to ease any potential pressure on England.

And Palmer finally found his way onto the scoresheet approaching the final 20 minutes, fed the ball by substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens before smashing home into the top corner.

The Chelsea midfielder also had the chance to make it four just a few minutes later, but was unable to properly control a cross from clubmate Madueke and his scuffed effort was dealt with comfortably.

And moments afterwards Trafford made arguably his most significant contribution of the evening, diving well to collect a shot from Noah Rossler.

That was the most significant threat in the closing stages, though, with England ultimately starting their qualification campaign comfortably.

England: 1. James Trafford; 3. Callum Doyle, 23. Nathan Wood, 5. Taylor Harwood-Bellis (c), 2. Rico Lewis; 6. Hayden Hackney, 19. Harvey Elliott, 17. Samuel Illing-Junior, 11. Noni Madueke, 9. Liam Delap, 10. Cole Palmer

Substitutes: 18, Dane Scarlett for Delap 63’, 21. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens for Illing Junior 63’, 4. Charlie Cresswell for Wood 77’, 7. James McAtee for Madueke 77’, 8. Charlie Patino for Hackney 84’

Substitutes not used:12. Brooke Norton-Cuffy, 13. James Beadle, 16. Bashir Humphreys, 20. Samuel Edozie,

Goals: Delap 43’, Doyle 58’, Palmer 67’

Bookings: Wood 44’, Bynoe-Gittens 70’

Luxembourg: 12. Eldin Latik; 2. Yohann Torres, 15. Massimo Agostinelli, 5. Fränz Sinner, 3. Fabio Lohei; 16. Clayton Miguel Irigoyen Goni, 6. Diogo Monteiro de Oliveira, 14. Miguel Gonçalves, 8. Fabio Cerqueira Martins; 11. Selim Junior Francis Turping, 7. James Alves Rodrigues

Substitutes: 4. Ivan Englaro for Monteiro de Oliveira 55’, 9. Dylan De Jesus Cardoso for Lohei 55’, 17. Noah Rossler for Turping 72’, 10. Lucas Correia for Rodrigues 72’, 20. Hugo Luís Afonso for Cerqueira Martins 78’

Substitutes not used: 1. Hugo Do Rego, 9. Eric Preljević, 13. Kenan Skenderović, 18. William Jorge Viegas Campos,

Bookings: Cerqueira Martins 3’, Lohei 11’, Monteiro de Oliveira 48