Croatia U21s 1-2 England U21s (agg: 2-4): Young Lions qualify for Euro 2015
England have qualified for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after beating Croatia 2-1 in Vinkovci to claim a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Saido Berahino’s late penalty last week had handed the Young Lions the advantage going into the second leg but this time out they triumphed with relative ease.
Liam Moore had opened the scoring before seeing Marko Livaja cancel his strike out, but with less than 20 minutes to go Will Hughes made sure of Gareth Southgate’s side’s progression.
The hosts nearly got off to a dream start when Chelsea starlet, on loan at Elche, Mario Pasalic was denied by a sensational save from Jack Butland.
A crafty move down the left saw the Young Lions have their first real chance, Harry Kane drifted towards goal but he took the ball far too close to the goalkeeper before seeing his effort blocked.
England took the lead after nine minutes as Leicester City’s Liam Moore charged towards Tom Carroll’s corner and volleyed a fine right-foot strike into the top corner from six yards.
The two sides traded blows as the first half went on with Marko Livaja forcing a save from Butland and Nathan Redmond cutting in a slapping a shot towards the near post, which was gobbled up by Dominik Livakovic.
With 38 minutes gone the hosts had the equaliser as Livaja got the better of Moore in the air and, with Butland ill-advisedly charging off his line, he slotted home with easy.
After the break, Kane and Eric Dier went close before Saido Berahino cracked a rising strike into the post as Croatia struggle to keep up their earlier intensity.
England’s winner came with 17 minutes left on the clock as Derby County midfielder Hughes squeezed a low shot into the far corner following excellent work from Kane.
And Gareth Southgate will now lead his charges next summer as they look to banish the memory of their poor performance in the 2013 tournament, which saw them fail to win a single point as they were beaten by Norway, Israel and Italy.