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Clinical England signal intent in style

England 7-0 Azerbaijan
England completed their preparations for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship by recording their biggest victory in Stuart Pearce's reign.

Craig Gardner celebrates his goal, one of seven on the night for England
Craig Gardner celebrates his goal, one of seven on the night for England ©Getty Images

England 7-0 Azerbaijan
England completed their preparations for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship by recording their biggest victory since Stuart Pearce took over as coach in 2007, a largely inexperienced side defeating Azerbaijan 7-0 to raise belief that the squad can achieve something special in Sweden.

Early strike
Beaten 2-0 by France on their previous outing in March, Pearce's side were out of sight by half-time in Milton Keynes thanks to a goal after 48 seconds by Michael Mancienne and further strikes from Mark Noble and Craig Gardner. Four more followed in the second half, two of them for Kieran Gibbs after visiting captain Nodar Mammadov had deflected in Lee Cattermole's effort for the fourth. England's seventh also ricocheted off a player in blue, Jack Rodwell left celebrating after his 20-metre strike looped in off Tural Narimanov.

Debutant Tomkins
Despite being without a handful of players who could start next Monday's Group B opener against Finland in Sweden, Pearce fielded only one debutant, James Tomkins, in his starting XI. An impressive figure in West Ham United FC's strong end to the Premier League season, the 20-year-old played a part in the quick-fire opener as he headed an inswinging Adam Johnson corner against the post and into the path of fellow centre-back Mancienne who spun and scored his first goal at this level.

Tidy move
Captain Noble doubled the lead with 26 played, firing in via the post and goalkeeper Elchin Sadigov to complete a tidy move involving Martin Cranie and Fraizer Campbell. Two became three five minutes later as left-back Gibbs played a lovely crossfield pass to Gardner who cushioned it perfectly before drilling it in on the volley. Rauf Aliyev would have scored the goal of the half from wide on the right were it not for a near-post save by the scrambling Joe Hart just after the half-hour, but that was about as good as it got for Bernhard Lippert's visitors.

Top Gunner
England started the second half in similar vein, substitute Rodwell, 18, and Campbell both heading against the woodwork in successive attacks before Mammadov's own goal. From then on it was pretty much shooting practice for England, Arsenal's Gibbs proving the top Gunner by scoring with either foot in the 64th and 70th minutes – the 19-year-old's first goals at this level. With Cattermole injured and his outfield substitutes used, Pearce brought on goalkeeper Joe Lewis up front with 15 minutes to play, yet it was Rodwell who made a nuisance of himself by becoming the third England player to break his scoring duck in added time.