England 2-0 Serbia

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
De Goffert Stadion, Nijmegen
7.45pm (UK time), Sunday 17 June 2007
Live on Sky Sports

Leroy Lita and Matt Derbyshire were both on the mark in Nijmegen as England secured a place in the last four of the UEFA Under-21 Championship.

Lita’s header in the fifth minute gave England an advantage to defend and also Lita the chance to show England Head Coach Steve McClaren, who was watching from the stands, just what he can do.

And a proper striker’s finish it was. James Milner’s free-kick from 30-yards out found Steven Taylor at the back post. He guided the ball back across goal and Lita was at the back post to nod over the line and prompt his now customary celebration. Number one.

Derbyshire’s strike with 13 minutes on the clock settled England down after sustained Serbia pressure, and the Three Lions were on their way.

After Lita’s header, his fifth goal in eight games for the Under-21s, England continued to have some joy down the right with James Milner, Justin Hoyte and David Nugent linking up well to give Nikola Petkovic, the full-back, a few problems.

However, they could only carve out one other good opportunity despite the early pressure. Kieran Richardson was over a free-kick on the right and swung in with his left. Nigel Reo-Coker managed to get a flick on, but the ball carried on wide of the target.

With nine changes to their starting line-up, the Serbian second string didn’t drop their heads. The first real scare for Stuart Pearce’s side came just after the half-hour mark when a free-kick on the left caused confusion in the box but England managed to hook away to safety.

A minute later, Gojko Kacar found a little room in the box, and with players still back for the free-kick, Lita was the last man. The Serb looked to have gotten behind the Reading forward on the penalty mark, but went down in a heap. Knut Kircher, the German referee, was not interested in the Serbs' appeals and waved play on.

After Pavlovic and Babic had long range tries, the first dealt with well by Carson low to his left, Kacar came close again. This time, from a corner, he rose at the far post but his header was just over.

Their best chance to level matters arrived on 57 minutes. After Milner’s free-kick was punched out by Aleksandar Kesic, Serbia attacked but a hopeful through ball looked certain to be tidied up by Milner, who was back defending.

However his slip put the ball into the path of Djordje Ivelja and he was clear. Carson, making a record 28 appearance for the Under-21s, rushed out towards the midfielder and flung himself at the shot, blocking superbly with his outstretched leg.

Serbia were controlling possession, but were rarely getting the chance to get in behind England and, unlike Italy three nights before, were unwilling to shoot from range. When the Three Lions did win the ball back, it didn’t stay with them for long, and Serbia would come again.

But when Leroy Lita's superb overhead kick was well saved following Milner’s high cross from the right, England’s spirits lifted.

Lita was substituted with 20 minutes left and his replacement, Matt Derbyshire, was soon in the action.

He got the better of Slobodan Rajkovic, who went down injured by the touchline, and raced away on the right to square for Richardson six yards out. He couldn’t apply the decisive finish and the ball trickled wide.

With Rajkovic now down on the edge of the box, after carrying himself further into play instead of a closer refuge off the pitch, England carried on playing. Richardson clipped the ball over the defence, who had stepped out seemingly unaware of Rajkovic’s situation playing Derbyshire onside.

The Blackburn man made no mistake, carrying the ball into the box with his first touch a sending a powerful shot beyond Kesic with his second.

The Serbs were not happy and nearly every red shirt raced towards Derbyshire, pushing and shoving the 21-year-old. He stepped out and after tensions died down, the referee metered out bookings to Milner and Kacar.

That wasn’t the end of the controversy. England’s final substitute Tom Huddlestone had only been on the pitch for two minutes and as they prepared to defend a Serb free-kick, referee Kircher showed the Tottenham midfielder a red card, presumably for something he’d said to the official.

Scott Carson was called into action twice in the closing stages and Leighton Baines cleared an effort from the line, but the luck was on England’s side as they held on to book their trip to Heerenveen for the Semi-Final with hosts Holland on Wednesday.

England
1 Scott Carson, 2 Justin Hoyte, 3 Leighton Baines, 4 Steven Taylor, 7 Nigel Reo-Coker (c) (17 Tom Huddlestone, 88), 9 Kieran Richardson (12 Wayne Routledge, 80), 10 David Nugent, 15 James Milner, 16 Leroy Lita (19 Matthew Derbyshire, 70), 18 Mark Noble, 20 Nedum Onuoha
Substitutes 5 Anton Ferdinand, 6 Gary Cahill, 13 Joe Hart, 14 Liam Rosenior, 21 James Vaughan, 22 Ben Alnwick, 23 Peter Whittingham

Goals: Leroy Lita 5, Matt Derbyshire 77

Coach Stuart Pearce

Serbia
23 Aleksandar Kesić, 4 Nemanja Rnić (c), 5 Gojko Kačar, 13 Nikola Drinčić, 14 Stefan Babović (9 Djordje Rakić, 46), 15 Predrag Pavlović, 16 Djordje Ivelja, 19 Dušan Basta, 20 Slobodan Rajković (2 Branislav Ivanović, 80), 21 Zoran Tošić (6 Aleksandar Kolarov, 67), 22 Nikola Petković
Substitutes 1 Damir Kahriman, 3 Antonio Rukavina, 7 Milan Smiljanić, 8 Boško Janković, 10 Dejan Milovanović, 11 Duško Tošić, 12 Igor Stefanović, 17 Miloš Krasić,18 Dragan Mrdja

Coach Miroslav Djukić

Kit Colours
England White shirts, Blue shorts, White socks
Goalkeeper Aubergine shirt, Aubergine shorts, White socks

Serbia Red shirts, Blue shorts, Red socks
Goalkeeper Black shirt, Black shorts, Black socks

Match Officials
Referee Knut Kircher (GER)
Assistant referees Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR) and Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE)
Fourth Official Bas Nijhuis (NED)