England Under-21s 6 Scotland Under-21s 0: match report

Graham Chase, Bramall Lane

Although the big one is still ahead, with the seniors playing another ‘friendly’ at Wembley on Wednesday night, it was one down and one to go for Roy Hodgson as England’s U21s secured a more than comfortable win over their Scottish counterparts.

In charge on a one-off basis after Stuart Pearce’s departure in June, Hodgson will have been pleased with what he saw at close quarters at Bramall Lane, where Nathan Redmond and Raheem Sterling gave the hosts a half-time lead.

Connor Wickham, Ross Barkley, Jonjo Shelvey and Tom Carroll added further goals as the Scots collapsed in the second half.

The only negative was Chelsea’s Nathaniel Cahalobah leaving the field on a stretcher just before the interval following a challenge from Tony Watt although Hodgson is hopeful there is no knee ligament damage.

Qualifiers for the next European Championships begin with a home match against Moldova in Reading on Sept 5 and Pearce’s replacement could in place as early as next week, with Gareth Southgate and Steve McClaren among those being linked with the role.

The utter failure of the summer, which saw England return home after the group stage of the European Championships in Israel with defeats in each of their three matches, continues to hang over the group but this was a display that suggested there is plenty for the next man to work with.

Hodgson said: “It took me back to my old Malmo days when we had what the Swedes called a ‘self-playing piano’. I’d send them out there, they’d thrash the opposition and I’d sit on the bench with a cigar.

“These guys have made a rod for the seniors but maybe that’s not such a bad thing and it’s shown the statement that England have no talented players and nothing coming through, we put that one to bed.

“Hopefully a lot of people who have made the bold statements have seen the performances and they can’t tell me those boys have got no future and no technique and no ability.

“I’ve always thought the future’s bright and never shared the criticisms that came after the summer.”

Reaching major tournaments has rarely been a problem and the performance at Bramall Lane would suggest that will be the case once again, with Billy Stark’s side having no answer to the pace and movement of England’s midfield.

Time and again, Shelvey, who was considering playing for Scotland himself as recently as last year, swept passes to Sterling and Redmond as England poured forward relentlessly.

In only the third minute, Shelvey’s raking pass picked out Redmond behind the Scotland defence and the Norwich winger scampered into the area before driving past Scotland’s Tottenham youngster Jordan Archer.

After a sustained spell of England possession seven minutes before the interval, Shelvey’s pass somehow made its way through to Sterling and the Liverpool man drove firmly into the corner.

Redmond was denied by Archer after the break but the Spurs goalkeeper sliced his attempted clearance and Wickham chipped the ball into an empty net.

With just under an hour gone, Barkley weaved his way forward before beating Archer with a low shot before Shelvey curled into the top corner from 25 yards less than a minute later.

The momentum continued as Redmond found space down the right and clipped in a pass that was swept into the top corner by Carroll, making it Scotland’s heaviest defeat at this level.

“It was a chastening experience,” Stark said. “I can try to make lame excuses but we played very poorly.”

Match details

England Under-21 (4-1-4-1): Butland (Stoke); Stones (Everton), Wisdom (Liverpool), Keane (Man Utd), Robinson (Blackpool); Chalobah (Chelsea), Redmond (Norwich), Hughes (Derby), Shelvey (Swansea), Sterling (Liverpool); Wickham (Sunderland).
Subs: Barkley (Everton) for Chalobah; 44, Carroll (Tottenham) for Shelvey 58; Lingard (Man Utd) for Redmond, 65; Ameobi (Newcastle) for Sterling, 65; Thorpe (Man Utd) for Wisdom, 72; Dier (Sporting Lisbon) for Hughes, 72.
Not used: T Kane (Blackburn), Johnstone, (g, Man Utd), Garbutt (Everton), Long (g, Sheff Utd), Bond (g, Watford), Berahino (WBA), H Kane (Tottenham).

Scotland Under-21 (4-4-2): Archer (Tottenham); Jack (Aberdeen), McKay (Hearts), Robertson (Aberdeen) McHattie (Hearts); McGeouch (Celtic), Fyvie (Wigan), Bannigan (Partick), Watt (Celtic); Feruz (Chelsea), Armstrong (Dundee U). Subs: Duffie (Falkirk) for Jack (h-t); May (St Johnstone) for Feruz 63; Smith (Hearts) for Armstrong, 63; Holt (Hearts) for Watt 73; Macleod (Rangers) for Bannigan, 78.
Not used: Kettings (g, Blackpool), Findlay (Celtic), Holt (Hearts), Walker (Hearts), Hamilton (g, Hearts). Booked: Fyvie.

Referee: D Makkelie (Holland).

Attendance: 26,942.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk