England U21 6-0 Azerbaijan U21
Last updated on .From the section Football
Stuart Pearce's England Under-21s thrashed Azerbaijan to start their Euro 2013 qualifying campaign in style.
Debutant Craig Dawson headed in a Henri Lansbury corner, before Lansbury got himself on the scoresheet, volleying in from an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross.
Skipper Jordan Henderson then superbly curled in from the edge of the area.
West Ham loanee Lansbury grabbed his second, Martyn Waghorn fired in a stunning long-range goal on his debut and Dawson headed his second late on.
Pearce has seen a number of his squad from the summer's European Championships become ineligible since the summer, but he was impressed with the efforts of his new look side.
He said: "The result was fantastic to kick the campaign off, and something to build on work from.
"We're going to have to improve and get better. This is a really tough competiton to not just to get to the finals of but to attempt to win.
"I was very pleased with everyone who contributed tonight. We had to hit the ground running, you can't afford to drop any points."
England's fifth-minute opener came when West Brom defender Dawson rose highest to head Lansbury's corner beyond Osman Umarov.
Lansbury then got in on the action himself, in what was his first full under-21s appearance, volleying in from close range 15 minutes later.
After fantastic work from Fulham's Matthew Briggs to find Henderson, the Liverpool midfielder superbly curled in a third from the edge of the penalty area just two minutes before half-time.
Substitute Marvin Sordell should have added a fourth at his home ground when he tried lobbing the keeper with 20 minute remaining, but he could only drag his effort wide.
Man of the match Lansbury pounced to grab his second of the game when Oxlade-Chamberlain launched a high ball into the area, Umarov could only punch it straight to the feet of the 20-year-old who blasted home.
made it five when he found himself in acres of space to launch a 30-yard drive into the top of the net, before former Rochdale man Dawson completed the rout with another header.
On the constant threat of Lansbury, Pearce said: "Henri, in some ways, came of age this summer.
"He's been patient, his training was fantastic during the summer. We were expecting a great deal of Henri and he's delivered."
Meanwhile, England Under-19s drew 0-0 against Holland Under-19s, in Maaseikerweg, at the start of their new campaign.
