England U21 9-1 Serbia U21: Young Lions go goal crazy in European championship qualifier at the City Ground

The England U21s went crazy producing a superb performance to thrash Serbia 9-1.

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

Own goals from Liam Delap, Jonathan Rowe and Luka Subotic added more misery for Serbia as the Young Lions came from behind in their first home game since winning Euro 2023.

They had to fight back, despite their dominance, after Vladimir Lucic’s stylish goal gave Serbia the lead in Euro 2025 qualifying.

The victory makes it two from two in Group F ahead of Monday’s match against Ukraine in Slovakia.

Boss Lee Carsley had decided to distance this team as European champions with just six of his winners in contention on Thursday after the majority of the class of 2023 aged out.

His new-look Young Lions should have sailed within 10 minutes but Charlie Cresswell planted a free header after Philogene’s effort was turned away by Veljko Ilic.

The goalkeeper then collected a tame effort from Elliott and continued to push the hosts away, a reaction preventing Philogene from slotting in at the far post.

Madueke pulled the strings, the striker teasing the overworked Serbian defence, but he should have done better than wander away after a neat exchange with Hayden Hackney.

Carsley’s side dominated, with Elliott firing 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 finale that halted England’s momentum which until then had only been growing.

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

Yet just two minutes later they equalized as Philogene marked his debut by striking high from the edge of the area after receiving the ball from 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 over from five yards .

That opened the floodgates and Elliott added a third when he collected the ball, moved forward and lofted a strike into the top corner.

Eight minutes after the break, Madueke scored the goal he deserved, dancing through the Serbian defense and drilling low.

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

Hackney was allowed to run and slide 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 selflessly tackling his Hull team-mate after Lewis had put him away.

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

It was up to Serbia to embarrass themselves as, under pressure from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mitar Ergelas’ clearance fell to Subotic and returned to Ilic three minutes from time.

There was still time for substitute Rowe to score his first goal, the Norwich striker heading home Elliott’s cross from close range.

Then, in stoppage time, Elliott added a ninth goal, grabbing Igor Miladinovic’s miserable pass to complete the score.

Carsley praises ‘fierce’ young Englishmen

England U21 boss Lee Carsley:

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

“Sometimes when you see the score, if you hadn’t been at the game you would think it was a walk in the park, but it wasn’t, especially scoring a goal.

“We talked about it a few days ago, how will this team react to a setback? To concede a goal when you are so in control, it speaks to the good response of the players.

“The fundamentals tonight were based on outplaying your opponent. That’s important if you want to have a long career and play for England, you can be technically and physically better than your opponent.

“We did that all over the field. When the score started to get away from Serbia, we didn’t stop.”

And after?

England travel to Slovakia to face Ukraine in their next Group F qualifier on Monday 16 October, kick-off 5.30pm.