England U21 3-0 Poland U21 – BBC Sport

England reached the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship for the first time since 2009 after comfortably beating 10-man Poland to finish top of Group A.

Demarai Gray opened the scoring early on with a long-range effort before substitute Jacob Murphy tapped in.

Poland rarely threatened and had defender Jan Bednarek sent off late on for tripping Tammy Abraham in the box.

Lewis Baker converted the resultant penalty to complete the win.

The victory against the hosts means England top the standings with seven points but will have to wait to find out who their semi-final opponent will be, with Groups B and C still to be completed.

Relive England’s win against Poland

England growing into the tournament

England’s first 135 minutes of football at the tournament did nothing to suggest they were capable of avoiding a third successive group-stage exit.

They were unadventurous and ponderous in the opener against Sweden, managing just a single shot on target, and were equally poor for the first 45 minutes of their second game against Slovakia, in which they trailed 1-0 at the break.

However, they showed grit and determination to fight back and win that game 2-1, putting them in control of their own destiny, and they came out fighting in an intimidating atmosphere against Poland.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford once again showed why Everton paid Sunderland £30m for his services with a confident and assured display, while the Leicester pair of Ben Chilwell and Gray were also excellent.

Chilwell dominated down the left, snubbing out Poland attacks while getting forward quickly to create chances, and it was from his excellent pass that Gray scored the opener.

But in truth there were standout performances all over the pitch for England.

Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse provided a threat from set-pieces that is so often lacking at senior level, while Alfie Mawson was a dominant presence in defence as well as offering an aerial threat in attack.

The Swansea defender was only denied adding his name to the scoresheet by an excellent Jakub Wrabel save.

After a slow start it appears England are finding their form just at the right time.

Can England go all the way?

England claimed their biggest international title since 1966 when their Under-20 side won the World Cup earlier this month, and the Under-21s are now just two wins away from lifting another major trophy.

However, Spain have been the standout team at the tournament so far. They were the only team to secure their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare and boast some outstanding talent.

Saul Niguez, an Atletico Madrid regular and capped three times by the Spanish senior side, scored a memorable overhead kick in a 5-0 defeat of Macedonia, with Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio scoring a hat-trick in that game.

Germany have also won their two games so far and have the tournament’s most formidable defence – they are the only team yet to concede a goal.

However, if England perform like they did against Poland then they have every chance of emulating their Under-20 counterparts.

‘We can get even stronger’ – analysis

England Under-20 boss Paul Simpson, who was co-commentator on the game for BBC Radio 5 live:

That was a top, top performance from the first whistle. They did everything manager Aidy Boothroyd would have wanted. It wasn’t done by lumping it forwards, it was controlled possession while also being a real threat from set-pieces.

This performance puts a marker down and shows what we are all about – we are not just here to make up the numbers, we are into the semi-final. And we can go on and get even stronger.

More to follow.