England U21s won the first set of Euro group bragging rights over the ‘Auld Enemy’ at the Riverside Stadium, as a fluent display sealed a 3-1 victory over Scotland.
Aidy Boothroyd’s men secured their place at the top of their qualifying group thanks to a stunning strike from Josh Onomah in the early stages before Tammy Abraham’s penalty and Dominic Solanke’s tap-in added a little gloss in the second half.
The victory means the Young Lions remain on top of their group as they now focus attention on Tuesday’s trip to Andorra.
There was no shortage of passion on Teesside both on and off the pitch, with more than 20,000 fans in attendance for the world’s oldest international fixture.
And those fans were treated to an exquisite strike from Onomah to get things going after just 13 minutes of a relatively quiet start.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s driven corner from the left had the Scottish defence scrambling and when it was headed clear to the edge of the box, Onomah controlled with his chest before unleashing an unstoppable half volley over Ryan Fulton and into the top corner.
It was a goal worthy of any occasion from the Spurs midfielder, currently on loan at Aston Villa, almost a year after his first against Bosnia & Herzegovina last October.
England almost doubled the lead five minutes later, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s cross from the left picked out Abraham who turned the ball towards goal only to see it bounce back off the post.
But Abraham got his goal less than five minutes into the second half, after he was tripped in the box by John Souttar following a darting run and cross from Kyle Walker-Peters down the left. The Swansea City loanee was quick to grab the ball, and rolled his spot-kick past Fulton.
