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England Under-21s heading to Sweden

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Men's Under-21 Team

Gibbs fires brace as England hit seven

Monday, 08 June, 2009

The Under-21s ran out comfortable winners at stadium:mk.

England

7-0

Azerbaijan

Mancienne 1, Sadigov 26 (o.g.), Gardner 31, Cattermole 55, Gibbs 64, 70, Rodwell 90

 F-T

 

Under-21 International Match
7.30pm, Monday 8 June 2009
stadium:mk, Milton Keynes Dons FC
Live on Setanta Sports
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England signed off before their trip to the UEFA European Under-21s Championship with a confidence-building 7-0 win over Azerbaijan.

On a night in which Stuart Pearce’s side were rarely troubled, three first half goal and four in the second, including a brace from Arsenal full-back Kieran Gibbs, provided England with a final run-out before the business begins in Sweden next Monday.

And the goals started coming before many of the Milton Keynes crowd had taken their seats.

Michael Mancienne smashed in his first goal for The Three Lions after just 48 seconds. It was a composed finish from the Chelsea man, controlling a rebounded James Tomkins header off the post, before lashing home with his left foot from just eight yards.

Both of England’s wide midfielders, Adam Johnson on the left and Craig Gardner on the right, were looking very lively. In particularly the versatile Gardner, who tried a couple of direct runs at the Azeri full-back. He managed to test the goalkeeper twice and a dipping free-kick on 20 minutes was tricky for Elchin Sadigov to hold as he blocked with his face.

But moments later, England had extended their advantage. Gardner linked with Martin Cranie down the right, and the Portsmouth defender crossed low to Fraizer Campbell. With his back to goal, he laid off to skipper Mark Noble who fired low with his left against the post before the ball rebounded off the back of Sadigov and across the line.

Pearce’s team were dominating, keeping possession well and making the Azeri chase. Tomkins and Mancienne, both smart footballers, looked composed at the back, but it was the quick front line causing the problems and just after the half-hour mark they’d made it three.

Kieran Gibbs, after a solid season with Arsenal, sent a long, cross-field pass from his left-back slot over the heads of the opposing back four where Gardner beat the offside, controlled inside the box with his first touch before smashing across Sadigov and inside the post with his second.

At the other end, Joe Hart was called into action to deal with a snap shot from the right, turning around his post, then Emin Jafarguliyev had an effort from close-range, following an Azerbaijan corner, but he sent his shot wide.

Pearce made two substitutions at the break, with Gardner and Muamba going off for Andrew Taylor and Jack Rodwell. With Taylor dropping into left-back it pushed Gibbs forward into midfield with Johnson switching to right.

And it was Gibbs who provided a chance for Rodwell to open his account in his second appearance for the Under-21s. But his header from the left-hand cross was pushed away for a corner. From the resulting cross Johnson fired in and Campbell rose well, meeting with his head, but the ball cannoned off the bar.

The England wave kept coming, however, and Cattermole’s volley from Andrew Taylor’s left-hand cross made it 4-0, with a deflection off Azeri skipper Nodar Mammadov on its way into the net.

Danny Rose was also handed his Under-21s debut, a week after helping the U19s reach their European Championship with a win over Scotland, and he and his team mates will head to Sweden full of confidence as two Gibbs goals make the night look very comfortable.

His first, guiding home a Rodwell cross from just inside the box, then, with 20 minutes still to play, he popped up to meet Rose’s centre and guide past Sadigov after the Spurs midfielder found space to cross from the left hand bye-line.

Azerbaijan sub, Javid Imamverdiyev had a good chance to pull one back. Latching onto a loose ball in the area, he fired at Hart’s goal, but the Manchester City man was equal to it, with a strong hand to send over.

With 15 minutes left, Pearce was forced into a change as Cattermole came off with a tight calf. But with no more outfield substitutes Joe Lewis, the Peterborough keeper, was called into act as an emergency forward, wearing the number 32 shirt.

In stoppage time, Everton's Rodwell rounded off the scoring when his 25 yard effort flicked off the back of Tural Narimanov and into the empty net.

A good night for a send off to the Finals, but it’ll be much more tricky against Finland in a week's time.

England 1 Joe Hart (22 Scott Loach 82), 2 Martin Cranie, 3 Kieran Gibbs, 4 Fabrice Muamba (15 Jack Rodwell, 46), 5 James Tomkins, 6 Michael Mancienne, 7 Craig Gardner (12 Andrew Taylor, 46), 8 Lee Cattermole (13 Joe Lewis, 76), 9 Fraizer Campbell (14 Richard Stearman, 62), 10 Mark Noble (c), (16 Danny Rose, 55),11 Adam Johnson

Head Coach Stuart Pearce

Azerbaijan 1 Elchin Sadigov, 2 Maksim Medvedev, 5 Tural Narimov, 7 Parvin Pashayev (6 Tagim Novruzov, 68), 8 Emin Jafarguliyev, 9 Elvin Mammadov, 11 Rauf Aliyev, 13 Shahriyar Rahimov, 14 Bahtiyar Soltanov (10 Javid Imamverdiyev, 57), 15 Nodar Mammadov (c), 17 Araz Abdullayev (18 Afran Ismailov, 57)
Substitutes 16 Osman Umarov, 3 Huseynov, 19 Javid Rahimov, 20 Anar Gasimov, 16 Farrukh Rahimov, 27 Mikhail Zaytzev

Manager Berhard Lippert

Match Offcials
Referee Robert SCHOERGENHOFER (AUT)
Assistant Referees Matthias WINSAUER (AUT) & Mario STRUDL (AUT)
Fourth Official – Kevin FRIEND (ENG)

Attendance 12,020