Young Lions go goal crazy as they put nine past Serbia in qualifier

England Under-21s 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.

An incredible night for our #YoungLions at @NFFC! pic.twitter.com/EOACrNhkfZ

— England (@England) October 12, 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.

Define: Quick feet