England MU18s made an impressive start in their trip to Spain, clocking up a 5-2 victory over Russia on Thursday afternoon.
In the first of three games at the Pinatar Arena for Ian Foster’s squad, the Young Lions picked up where they left off last month when they won a trio of games on their travels.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring inside ten minutes before Russia had a great chance to equalise, from the penalty spot midway through the half. Thankfully for England, the effort was crashed against the bar.
And they were made to pay when Sam Greenwood doubled the advantage just before the break before Cole Palmer added a third three minutes into the second half.
Russia did fight their way back to make it 3-2 after two goals in ten minutes from Sviatoslav Kozhedub and Kiril Shchetinin, but it was England who finished strongly.
Morgan Rogers gave the Young Lions some breathing room with six minutes remaining before debutants James McAtee and Jay Stansfield combined moments after their introduction from the bench to set up fellow sub Alex Mighten for the fifth.
The Young Lions will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they tackle Norway (2pm) at the same venue.
England: 1 Nathan Broome (Stoke City), 2 Luke Matheson (Rochdale), 3 Dennis Cirkin (Tottenham Hotspur), 5 Jeriel Dorsett (Reading), 6 Nathan Wood (Middlesbrough), 7 Noni Madueke (PSV Eindhoven), 9 Sam Greenwood (Arsenal), 10 Cole Palmer (Manchester City), 11 Morgan Rogers (Manchester City), 14 Jensen Weir (Wigan Athletic), 16 Joe White (Newcastle United)
Substitutes: 8 Yunus Musah (Valencia) for White 72, 4 Miguel Azeez (Arsenal) for Matheson 72, 17 Jeremy Sarmiento (Benfica) for Madueke 85, 18 Alex Mighten (Nottingham Forest) for Rogers 85, 19 Jay Stansfield (Fulham) for Greenwood 85, 20 James McAtee (Manchester City) for Palmer 85, 12 Joshua Wilson-Esbrand (Manchester City) for Cirkin 87
Substitutes not used: 13 Hubert Gracyck (Arsenal), 15 Dynel Simeu (Chelsea), 22 Oliver Bosworth (Leicester City)
Head coach: Ian Foster
Goals: Noni Madueke 9, Sam Greenwood 45, Cole Palmer 48, Morgan Rogers 84, Alex Mighten 86
