Kazakhstan U21 0-1 England U21

Demarai Gray was a member of the Leicester City squad which won the Premier League last season

England Under-21s booked their place at next summer's European Championship with a game to spare as they won in Kazakhstan.

Demarai Gray put the visitors in front early on by sidefooting in Nathan Redmond's low, deflected cross.

England were almost punished for not building on their lead but Brendan Galloway blocked an Alisher Suley shot.

Gray put Ruben Loftus-Cheek in on goal and although his attempted chip was saved, England took all three points.

• Thursday's other U21 report: Ukraine 1-1 Northern Ireland

Boothroyd off to winning start

Gareth Southgate had led the U21s to the brink of qualification but, after he took interim charge of the England senior side following Sam Allardyce's exit, U20s coach Aidy Boothroyd replaced him on a temporary basis.

Boothroyd said he was there to "help the team to get themselves over the line" and reach Euro 2017 in Poland in June.

And he duly did so, with unbeaten England topping Group Nine, having won five of their seven games to secure a sixth successive place in the finals tournament.

Their final group game will be on Tuesday, 11 October when they host Bosnia and Herzegovina in Walsall.

England lack cutting edge

Boothroyd resisted the temptation to start with striker Tammy Abraham, who has netted 11 goals in 14 games in all competitions since moving to Bristol City on loan from Chelsea for the season.

And despite the impressive Gray's first goal for the U21s getting the visitors off to a promising start, a dominant England failed to add to their lead as they lacked a cutting edge up front.

Marcus Rashford had scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Norway last time out but was absent having been called up to the senior England side.

He was sorely missed as, despite Gray and Nathan Redmond - who are more used to playing as wingers - appearing to share striking duties with Loftus-Cheek in an advanced midfield role in Kazakhstan, England struggled to make the most of their possession.

What they said:

England U21 interim boss Aidy Boothroyd told BT Sport: "Considering the occasion, need to get points and the partisan atmosphere, I thought that the way we played was controlled.

"I thought we created some really good chances, particularly in the first half, and perhaps could be a bit disappointed we didn't score more goals.

"Demarai did very well. I thought it was a very good team performance all the way through but Demarai took his goal very well."

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• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Kazakhstan U21

• 18Pavlov
• 2Aslan
• 3Rudoselskiy
• 4SartakovBooked at 29mins
• 13Shaikhov
• 5Saparov
• 6Tuliev
• 23VorogovskiyBooked at 44minsSubstituted forKalmuratovat 85'minutes
• 10SuleyBooked at 38minsSubstituted forZhalmukanat 45'minutesBooked at 73mins
• 11Tungyshbayev
• 7FedinSubstituted forAimbetovat 74'minutes

Substitutes

• 1Kolbuntsov
• 8Sokolenko
• 9Zhalmukan
• 16Sultanov
• 17Aimbetov
• 19Kalmuratov
• 21Valiullin

England U21

• 1Woodman
• 2Holgate
• 5Chambers
• 6HoldingBooked at 4mins
• 3Galloway
• 4Chalobah
• 8Ward-Prowse
• 7Baker
• 10Loftus-CheekSubstituted forWatmoreat 73'minutes
• 9GraySubstituted forAbrahamat 85'minutes
• 11Redmond

Substitutes

• 12Stephens
• 13Walton
• 14Hayden
• 15Swift
• 16Abraham
• 17Watmore
• 18Onomah

Referee:

Sergei Lapochkin

Attendance:

12,720

Match Stats

Home TeamKazakhstan U21Away TeamEngland U21

Possession

Home18%

Away82%

Shots

Home7

Away16

Shots on Target

Home0

Away5

Corners

Home1

Away9

Fouls

Home13

Away8

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Kazakhstan U21 0, England U21 1.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+3'

Second Half ends, Kazakhstan U21 0, England U21 1.

Posted at 90'+3'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Posted at 90'+2'

Delay in match Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev (Kazakhstan U21) because of an injury.

Posted at 90'

Offside, Kazakhstan U21. Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev tries a through ball, but Berik Shaikhov is caught offside.

Posted at 89'

Foul by Nathaniel Chalobah (England U21).

Posted at 89'

Miras Tuliev (Kazakhstan U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 88'

Attempt missed. Rafkat Aslan (Kazakhstan U21) right footed shot from long range on the right is too high from a direct free kick.

Posted at 86'

Foul by Rob Holding (England U21).

Posted at 86'

Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev (Kazakhstan U21) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 86'

Attempt saved. Tammy Abraham (England U21) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Nathan Redmond with a cross.

Substitution

Posted at 85'

Substitution, Kazakhstan U21. Kuanysh Kalmuratov replaces Yan Vorogovskiy.

Substitution

Posted at 85'

Substitution, England U21. Tammy Abraham replaces Demarai Gray.

Posted at 85'

Brendan Galloway (England U21) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 85'

Foul by Abat Aimbetov (Kazakhstan U21).

Posted at 80'

Corner, England U21. Conceded by Stanislav Pavlov.

Posted at 80'

Attempt saved. Demarai Gray (England U21) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Lewis Baker.

Posted at 77'

Attempt missed. Altynbek Saparov (Kazakhstan U21) left footed shot from outside the box is too high.

Posted at 77'

Attempt blocked. Abat Aimbetov (Kazakhstan U21) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Altynbek Saparov.

Substitution

Posted at 74'

Substitution, Kazakhstan U21. Abat Aimbetov replaces Maxim Fedin.

Booking

Posted at 73'

Didar Zhalmukan (Kazakhstan U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 73'

Brendan Galloway (England U21) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Didar Zhalmukan (Kazakhstan U21).

Substitution

Posted at 73'

Substitution, England U21. Duncan Watmore replaces Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Posted at 72'

Attempt missed. Nathan Redmond (England U21) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse following a corner.

Posted at 72'

Corner, England U21. Conceded by Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev.

Posted at 72'

Attempt blocked. Calum Chambers (England U21) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse with a cross.

Posted at 72'

Corner, England U21. Conceded by Altynbek Saparov.

Posted at 70'

Calum Chambers (England U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 70'

Foul by Maxim Fedin (Kazakhstan U21).

Posted at 69'

Attempt missed. Maxim Fedin (Kazakhstan U21) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Yerkebulan Tungyshbayev.

Posted at 67'

Demarai Gray (England U21) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 67'

Foul by Altynbek Saparov (Kazakhstan U21).

Posted at 66'

Attempt missed. Nathan Redmond (England U21) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse.

Posted at 61'

Attempt saved. Ruben Loftus-Cheek (England U21) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Demarai Gray with a through ball.

Posted at 57'

Corner, England U21. Conceded by Rafkat Aslan.

Posted at 55'

Attempt missed. Altynbek Saparov (Kazakhstan U21) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the left. Assisted by Miras Tuliev.

Posted at 55'

Attempt missed. Demarai Gray (England U21) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse.

Posted at 54'

Foul by Nathan Redmond (England U21).

Posted at 54'

Berik Shaikhov (Kazakhstan U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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