Emile Smith Rowe ends goal drought to help Young Lions maul France

Emile Smith Rowe’s first goal in nine months helped England Under-21s continue their Euros countdown in style with a 4-0 thumping of France at the King Power Stadium.

The Arsenal forward’s second-half header ended his wait before goals from Noni Madueke, Curtis Jones and Jacob Ramsey wrapped up a comprehensive victory.

It was Smith Rowe’s first start for club or country since June after an injury-ravaged season with Madueke also stealing the show with a starring performance off the bench.

England play Croatia at Craven Cottage on Tuesday in their final friendly before Euro 2023, where the Young Lions face the Czech Republic, defending champions Germany and Israel in Georgia. Having beaten Germany and Italy in September there is plenty of room for optimism but England initially struggled against the visitors with goalkeeper James Trafford making saves from Kouadio Koné and Rayan Cherki in the first half.

Smith Rowe and Harvey Elliott failed to make an impact in the opening period and Cameron Archer was bullied by Chelsea’s Benoît Badiashile and Mohamed Simakan but after the restart England were positive and got their reward five minutes into the second half. Oliver Skipp seized on Badiashile’s loose pass and found Morgan Gibbs-White who crossed for the unmarked Smith Rowe to head in from six yards.

From there England were comfortable and added three goals to seal the win, with Madueke’s 24-minute cameo crucial. With 13 minutes left, substitutes Tommy Doyle, Madueke and Ramsey combined to slip in Madueke who drilled low past Lucas Chevalier.

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Two minutes later Madueke found space on the left and