Chelsea starlets on target in England U21s win

Mark Holmes
England Under-21s: Beat Paraguay 4-0 in France

England Under-21s: Beat Paraguay 4-0 in France

England Under-21s all but secured a place in the final of the Toulon Tournament with a convincing 4-0 win over Paraguay Under-23s on Thursday evening.

Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek struck twice with Lewis Baker, also of Chelsea, and Norwich City winger Nathan Redmond also scoring in Six-Fours-les-Plages.

The victory was a third from three games in Group B for Gareth Southgate’s men. Only defeat to Japan in their last group game and a huge swing in goal difference can now deny them a place in the final in Avignon on Sunday.

After a slow start, England opened the scoring with 33 minutes gone when Duncan Watmore and Loftus-Cheek combined to tee up Baker, who rifled into the roof of the net.

Redmond had fired narrowly wide just moments earlier.

In a game of 80 minutes, Loftus-Cheek doubled the lead five minutes into the second half as he robbed Franco Benitez and finished coolly.

He claimed his second just before the hour, chipping goalkeeper Alan Gomez after a strong run by Watmore.

Norwich winger Redmond completed the scoring after 65 minutes with a low shot after a strong run.