The Young Lions make it two wins from two games in UEFA U21 EURO qualifying after comprehensive victory in Chisinau

Divin Mubama’s brace helped England men’s under-21s to a 4-0 win over Moldova in UEFA U21 EURO qualifying.

Jamie Gittens broke the deadlock on 28 minutes with a fine strike to assert the Young Lions’ dominance on the scoreboard. Their advantage was reinforced with two goals from Mubama before Rico Lewis rounded out the win to see England take all three points in Chișinău and keep their 100 per cent record.

Moldova went on the first attack, but it was easily dealt with by England’s defence and went behind for a corner. The resulting corner saw James Beadle called into action to stop a header from Matteo Obleac.

The Young Lions then began to probe, seeing a Tyler Dibling penalty opportunity waved away before he sent a ball into the box from out wide, but it went just over Jobe Bellingham’s head.

The breakthrough came in the 28th minute through Gittens as he worked himself into a position to unleash a strike that beat the goalkeeper Victor Dodon at his near post for his first MU21s goal in over 18 months.

Moldova looked to respond immediately first through a corner before Stefan Bitca’s shot was blocked.

Eight minutes later, Gittens again led another England charge, feeding Nwaneri but there was no one there to turn home a cross into the heart of the box as the half ended with England one goal to the good.

The attacks kept coming after the restart as Archie Gray tested the Moldova defence early on in the second half before Bellingham sent a curling ball narrowly wide.

England had been on top since Moldova’s early chance, but the hosts grew into the game on the hour mark. Stefan Bitca took on free-kick duties and sent the ball into a good area that prompted Beadle to fly out of his goal and punch the ball to safety.

After that brief spell, England’s dominance was restored as Mubamba was fed by Nwaneri, who picked up his second assist, before coolly slotting home.

The Young Lions were so on top that when Bellingham fed debutant Josh King, Moldova’s Vlad Pascari rushed into a rash challenge in the box and gave away a penalty.

Mubama switched from left foot to right foot before dispatching the spot-kick into the bottom left corner for his second of the game.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy was next to test the defence, having been set up well by Bellingham, but the Genoa defender forced a good save from Dodon.

The match was closed out spectacularly as Lewis got his first MU21s goal with an impressive effort, driving to the edge of the box before firing into the back of the net with one minute of regular time left.

England: 1 James Beadle, 2 Rico Lewis, 3 Max Alleyne, 4 Josh Acheampong, 7 Jobe Bellingham (c), 8 Divin Mubama, 10 Ethan Nwaneri, 11 Jamie Gittens, 14 Archie Gray, 15 Brooke Norton-Cuffy, 20 Tyler Dibling

Substitutes: 21 Tyrique George for Gittens 69’, 18 Josh King for Dibling 69’, 16 Thierry Small for Mubama 78’, 5 Ashley Phillips for Acheampong 78’, 23 Sydie Peck for Norton-Cuffy 84’

Substitutes not used: 12 Tom Watson, 13 Tommy Simkin, 17 Romaine Esse, 19 Kellen Fisher

Goals: 11 Jamie Gittens 28’, Divin Mubama 68’ 74’ P, Rico Lewis 89’

Head coach: Lee Carsley

Moldova: 1 Victor Dodon, 4 Matteo Obleac, 5 Artiom Dijinari, 6 Vladislav Costin, 7 Stefan Bitca, 9 Nicolae Rotaru, 10 Dan-Angelo Botan, 11 Veaceslav Cozma, 14 Petar Gospodinov, 17 Ovidiu David, 19 Danil Andreiciu

Substitutes: 8 Cristian Pascaluta for David 46’, 16 Vlad Lupasco for Rotaru 71’, 3 Vlad Pascari for Andreiciu 72, 15 Serghei Turcan for Botan 82’, 13 Leo Saca for Gospodinov 83’,

Substitutes not used: 2 Ivan Graminishii, 12 Roman Dumenco , 19 Artur Sprinsean, 20 Pavel Nazari

Coach: Serghei Cebotari