England U21 9 – 1 Serbia U21

England U21s went goal crazy as they produced a stunning display to crush Serbia 9-1.

Chelsea forward Noni Madueke, debutant Jaden Philogene and Harvey Elliott all scored twice at the City Ground.

Liam Delap, Jonathan Rowe and Luka Subotic’s own goal heaped further misery on Serbia as the Young Lions came from behind in their first home game since winning Euro 2023.

They had to hit back, despite dominating, after Vladimir Lucic’s classy strike gave Serbia the lead in the Euro 2025 qualifier.

Victory made it two from two in Group F ahead of Monday’s game with Ukraine in Slovakia.

Boss Lee Carsley had moved to distance this squad as European champions with just six of his winners featuring on Thursday after the majority of the class of 2023 aged out.

His new-look Young Lions should have been cruising inside 10 minutes but Charlie Cresswell planted a free header wide after Philogene’s effort was turned over by Veljko Ilic.

The goalkeeper then gathered a tame effort from Elliott and continued to deny the hosts, a reaction stop keeping out Philogene at the far post.

Madueke pulled the strings, the forward teasing the overworked Serbia defence, but he should have done better than to drag wide following a neat exchange with Hayden Hackney.

Carsley’s side dominated, Elliott shooting over, but they were shocked by Serbia after 27 minutes.

Lucic started the move on the left and when Nikola Stankovic was played in behind Hackney he found Lucic to brilliantly guide a first-time finish into the top corner from 16 yards.

It was a stunning finish and checked England’s momentum which, until then, had only been growing.

The Young Lions were briefly cautious as they sized their opponents up again, but Delap should have levelled nine minutes before the break rather than let Ilic save with his legs.

Yet just two minutes later they levelled as Philogene marked his debut by smashing in high from the edge of the box after being gifted the ball by Ilic.

Elliott went close before England got the second they deserved after 41 minutes when captain Cole Palmer was thwarted by Ilic but Philogene recycled the ball to find Delap who crashed in from five yards.

It opened the floodgates and Elliott added a third when he collected the ball, advanced and arrowed a strike into the top corner.

Eight minutes after the break Madueke got the goal he deserved when he danced across the Serbia defence and drilled in low.

It was now a procession, with Serbia resorting to needless fouls to halt England’s rhythm, but they could do nothing to stop Madueke’s second.

Hackney was allowed to run and slip the ball into Rico Lewis whose backheel found Madueke to roll into the corner.

England continued to pile on the pain and Philogene got his second after 63 minutes, Delap unselfishly squaring to his Hull team-mate after Lewis put him clear.

The scoreline reflected the gulf in quality and Cresswell and James McAtee went close to adding a seventh before Elliott hit the crossbar.

It was left to Serbia to embarrass themselves as, under pressure from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mitar Ergelas’ clearance clattered off Subotic and looped over Ilic with three minutes left.

There was still time for substitute Rowe to get a debut goal, the Norwich forward heading in Elliott’s cross from close range.

Then, in stoppage time, Elliott added the flourish with a ninth goal, seizing on Igor Miladinovic’s wretched pass to complete the scoring.

Carsley full of praise for ‘cut-throat’ England youngsters

England U21 boss Lee Carsley:

“You can’t afford to waste too many chances and they were cut-throat in the second half. It was good to see because it helps with their confidence,” said Carsley, who takes his team to Slovakia to face Ukraine on Monday.

“Sometimes when you see the scoreline, if you hadn’t been at the game, you’d think it was a walk in the park but it didn’t feel like that, especially going a goal down.

“We spoke about it a few days ago, how will this squad react to a setback? To go a goal down when you are so in control, it’s testament to the players they responded the right way.

“The fundamentals of tonight were based on outworking your opponent. It’s important if you are going to get a long career and play for England you can be technically and physically better than your opponent.

“We did that all over the pitch. When the scoreline started getting away from Serbia we didn’t stop.”

What’s next?

England travel to Slovakia to take on Ukraine for their next Group F Qualifier on Monday October 16, kick-off at 5.30pm.