England Under-19s made a winning start to their Euro Elite Round qualifiers with a 3-0 victory over Norway at St. George’s Park.
Keith Downing’s team kicked-off the first of their fixtures knowing three points were vital ahead of Friday’s second match against Spain, who beat Belarus by 5-0 in their opening game on an adjacent pitch at the national football centre.
And after being made to work hard to break down the Norwegians in the opening stages, Mason Mount got the Young Lions up and running just after the half-hour mark.
The goal was created by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who embarked on a strong run from right-back.
After breaking into the box, it looked as though the Liverpool man was running out of space but he somehow dug out a cross into the centre for the Chelsea playmaker to produce a tidy close-range finish.
Mount came close to doubling the advantage soon after when an attempted chip from the left of the box had Norwegian keeper Christian Haug back-pedalling, only to land on the roof of the net.
But the second half was less than a minute old when England found a second goal, as Fulham midfielder Tayo Edun fired an unstoppable left-footer into the top corner from the edge of the area after good work from Alexander-Arnold and Dujon Sterling on the right.
The points were secured in the 55th minute when Sam Field smashed home a shot from inside the box after Lukas Nmecha’s earlier effort had crashed back off the woodwork.
England continued their search of more goals to boost their tally, and Ryan Sessegnon came close with a low shot narrowly wide and Mount was denied a second by a decent save from Haug.
And Nmecha saw a close-range header blocked on the line after sub Chris Willock had picked him out with a cross from the left in the final minute.
Downing’s side will play Spain at St. George’s Park on Friday afternoon, before hosting Belarus in their last match on Monday. Only the nation who finishes top of the group will progress to July’s Euro Finals in Georgia. Please note, the games at St. George's Park are to be played behind closed doors.
England Under-19s: 1 Aaron Ramsdale (AFC Bournemouth); 2 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), 3 Jay DaSilva (Charlton Athletic, loan from Chelsea) (c), 5 Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), 7 Dujon Sterling (Chelsea), 8 Sam Field (West Bromwich Albion), 9 Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City), 10 Mason Mount (Chelsea), 11 Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham), 12 Tayo Edun (Fulham), 15 Easah Suliman (Aston Villa).
Substitutes: 6 Reece Oxford (Reading, loan from West Ham United) for Alexander-Arnold 66, 17 Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (Manchester City) for Sterling 67, 14 Chris Willock (Arsenal) for Sessegnon 73
Substitutes not used: 13 Alfie Whiteman (Tottenham Hotspur), 16 Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur), 18 Ben Brereton (Nottingham Forest)
Head coach: Keith Downing
Goals: Mason Mount 33, Tayo Edun 46, Sam Field 55
Norway Under-19s: 1 Christian Haug, 2 Matushan Sandrakumarm, 5 Henrik Bredeli, 6 Magnus Grodem, 7 Kristoffer Ajer (c), 8 Tobias Svendsen, 9 Birk Risa, 11 Emil Hansson, 13 Abdul-Basit Agouda, 14 John Kitolano, 15 Andreas Dybevik
Substitutes: 16 Mads Sande for Dybevik 46, 3 William Sell for Agouda 52,17 Andreas Hoven for Grodem 76
Substitutes not used: 4 Benjamin Yapi, 10 Knut Ahlander, 12 Jonatan Byttingsvik, , 18 Mathias Olsen
Goals: N/A
