England U21 4 Belgium U21 0: Lansbury at the double as Young Lions near Euro 2013
England Under 21s shrugged off the absence of manager Stuart Pearce to take another huge step towards qualification for Euro 2013 with a comfortable victory over Belgium in front of nearly 23,000 in Middlesbrough.
With Pearce taking charge of the seniors at Wembley, Brian Eastick guided the team to a victory that means Belgium can no longer catch them at the top of Group Eight, while Norway would need to win their remaining four games and have England drop points in their last two.
Henri Lansbury opened the scoring with a stunning cross-cum-shot from the wing, before Stephen Caulker headed in a second in the 35th minute.
Perfect start: Hnri Lansbury opens the scoring at the Riverside
MATCH FACTS
England U21: Butland, Kelly, Caulker, Dawson, Rose, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, McEachran, Zaha (Shelvey 67), Lansbury (Gardner 73), Sordell (Keane 82). Subs not used: Steele, Smith, Lowe, Delfouneso.
Booked: Dawson.
Scorers: Lansbury 9, Caulker 36, Lansbury 53, Oxlade-Chamberlain 90 pen.
Belgium U21: Casteels, Ngawa, Boyata, Wuytens, De Bock, Bruno (Musonda 62),V an Acker, Meunier (Naessens 59), De Pauw, Badibanga (Francois 83), Benteke. Subs not used: Kaminski, Lukaku, Daeseleire, D'Haene.
Referee: Liran Liany (Israel).
Attendance: 22,647.
When Lansbury added a third seven
minutes into the second half, the three points were effectively wrapped
up long before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's stoppage-time penalty.
England's plan was to use the pace of
wingers Oxlade-Chamberlain and debutant Wilfried Zaha to get behind the
Belgian defence and they set out full of running, with the wingers
regularly switching sides to keep the visitors on their toes.
But it was Lansbury who really caught
the eye, flashing a header wide from Martin Kelly's deep cross before
opening the scoring in stunning fashion in the ninth minute.
There appeared little danger as he
stood deep on the left wing but he fired the ball in and left goalkeeper
Kaen Casteels rooted to the spot as it sailed into the far corner.
Martin Sordell was inches away from a
Jordan Henderson cross moments later while Zaha saw a powerful
left-footed effort turned away for a corner.
On the scoresheet: Steven Caulker nodded England's second
Belgium, who scored a last-minute
winner in Mons when England dropped their only points of the qualifying
campaign, were restricted to half-chances and failed to test Jack
Butland as Thomas Meunier screwed a shot wide before Gianni Bruno blazed
over.
It took a sliding tackle from Laurens
De Bock to prevent Oxlade-Chamberlain breaking free, but from the
resulting corner Caulker headed in after Craig Dawson nodded it back
towards goal.
On easy street: Lansbury is congratulated by team mate Danny Rose after scoring the third
Ziguy Badibanga sent a dangerous ball
across the face of goal but England quickly turned it into a chance of
their own as they raced to the other end where Lansbury fired over.
There was a scare just before the
break when Christian Benteke lost his man but headed wide from
Badibanga's cross with the goal gaping.
Job well done: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is congratulated by team mates Gary Gardner and Jordan Henderson
England added a third seven minutes
into the second half when the ball fell for Zaha on the right side of
the penalty area and he drilled in a low ball for Lansbury to lash home.
Belgium had their best chance in
response, with Badibanga's through ball finding the run of Bruno to get
in behind the defence, but he slid his shot wide of the far post.
Leading a merry dance: Josh McEachran skips past Thibaut Van Acker
They had another chance after Kelly
was dispossessed on the right, but Butland was out quickly to turn Nill
De Pauw's effort wide.
Lansbury was denied the chance of a
hat-trick as he was withdrawn 17 minutes from time in favour of Gary
Gardner as England chose to shut up shop.
A vicious effort from Lamisha Musonda
was blocked on the line and Butland than denied Jens Naessens when
one-on-one in stoppage time as England protected their clean sheet
before Oxlade-Chamberlain won a soft penalty which he drilled home
himself with the last kick of the game.