England U21s 3 Poland U21s 0: Chelsea's Lewis Baker converts penalty as Young Lions go through to Euro semi-finals

England Under-21s booked their place in the European Championships semi-finals on Thursday after securing a 3-0 win over 10-man Poland in Kielce.

Aidy Boothroyd had warned his Young Lions side they needed to be at their best to beat tournament hosts Poland after the England U21s coach saw his side come from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1 on Monday.

With Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham being rested for the Group A clash, Boothroyd opted to start Leicester's Demarai Gray up front - which paid off when the midfielder latched onto his club teammate, Ben Chilwell's square pass to drive in a superb effort into the far post in only the sixth minute.

Buoyed by the goal, England pushed forwards and could have doubled or even tripled their lead but saw Poland goalkeeper Jakub Wrabel make four fine saves - the first from James Ward-Prowse's free kick, the second from Nathaniel Chalobah's close-range effort, the third from Alfie Mawson's bullet header and the fourth from John Swift's long-range shot.

With England unable to find a way past Wrabel, Boothroyd was delivered a blow before the break when Chelsea midfielder Chalobah was forced off with an injury in the 38th minute.

But the Young Lions did threaten again in the first half after Swift failed to tap in a free kick with Wrabel beaten.

England subsequently emerged in the second period determined to secure the win, and did so in stunning counter-attacking fashion in the 68th minute.

Poland had worked the ball into the England box but were dispossessed and forced to try and get back in shape as Boothroyd's men launched a swift counter.

Gray did most of the hard work with his fine run down the left before crossing in for substitute Jacob Murphy, who converted from close range to make it 2-0.

Chelsea's Lewis Baker came close to adding to the scoreline when he forced Wrabel into a save from his free kick, but he did have a say after England were handed a penalty for Jan Bednarek's foul on substitute Abraham in the area - which resulted in the Poland man being sent off for a second bookable offence.

Baker, 22, stepped up to take the spot-kick and coolly converted the penalty to seal the win, which sees England book their place in the semi-finals of the U21 European Championships next Tuesday.