Reiss Nelson & Kieran Dowell give England U21s 2-0 win over Scotland U21s
- Published
Reiss Nelson hits brilliant free-kick
Reiss Nelson and Kieran Dowell scored as England Under-21s beat Scotland and completed their European Championship qualifying campaign unbeaten.
Aidy Boothroyd's side dominated with Dominic Solanke, Tammy Abraham and Harvey Barnes all passing up chances.
And Hoffenheim's on-loan Arsenal man Nelson struck an impressive free-kick.
Scotland, who had already missed out on qualification, threatened an equaliser through Lewis Morgan before Everton's Dowell curled in a late second.
England, who had secured their place at next year's finals in Italy with a 7-0 win over Andorra on Thursday, remain unbeaten against Scotland at under-21 level.
Scot Gemmill's side will finish fourth in Group 4, having won four and lost four of their 10 matches.
Potent England too much for Scotland
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard and Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon were among the onlookers in the Tynecastle crowd and were no doubt impressed by what the England players had to offer.
The visitors looked extremely comfortable on the ball and it was evident that confidence was brimming throughout the team with chances coming thick and fast.
Jake Clarke-Salter and Josh Onomah had chances in addition to those that fell to Solanke, Abraham and Barnes.
One brief opportunity for Scotland in the first half came when Chris Cadden played in Ross McCrorie only eight yards out but the captain volleyed high over the crossbar.
England continued to control proceedings after the break and, after Italian referee Marco Di Bella awarded a free-kick 30 yards out, Nelson sent a wonderful curling shot into the top corner with goalkeeper Ross Doohan in the Scotland goal unable to get near the ball.
Celtic's Morgan was denied an equaliser when keeper Dean Henderson was forced into full stretch to tip away a shot on the angle and Scotland's Ryan Porteous had a header that hit the top of the crossbar.
But those chances were few and far between and the visitors scored another stunning goal, Dowell bending the ball high past Doohan in added time.
Gerrard's Rangers duo Ross McCrorie and Glenn Middleton featured for Scotland
'Two moments of quality' - reaction
Scotland Under-21s head coach Scot Gemmill: "It was a really high level game. Tactically, defensively we needed to be really on it. When you play the top seeds in the competition there has to be an acceptance you are going to have to defend and our players showed great intelligence and willingness to show all the details and stay in the game.
"You also need to factor in that nearly all of our players can play again in the next campaign - 14 out of the 20 in our squad can play again so there is a lot to be really positive about."
England Under-21s head coach Aidy Boothroyd: "When we did the fixtures initially I thought, 'I hope we don't need anything going up there as they are always feisty affairs'.
"I thought the teams were evenly matched and really it was two moments of absolute quality that I thought sealed it for us. We are delighted with the result and if we didn't know before there was a reminder when you're playing Scotland you need to be at your best."