England U21 3 Poland U21 0: Demarai Gray inspires England to reach Euro U21 Championship semi-finals by winning the group and dumping Poland out
Hosts Poland's miserable night was completed in the 81st minute when they conceded a penalty and had Jan Bednarek sent-off
DEMARAI GRAY inspired England to a comfortable 3-0 victory against Poland that secured their spot as group winners in the European U21 Championship play-offs.
It proved a master-stroke by Three Lions boss Aidy Boothroyd who recalled Gray at the expense of Tammy Abraham.
The Leicester youngster scored the first and set up the second as England sent hosts Poland crashing out of the tournament.
Substitute Abraham helped wrap up a highly-impressive win when he won a penalty in the 81st minute - Lewis Baker grabbed the ball and hammered home from the spot.
Jan Bednarek was shown a second yellow and subsequent red for the foul, to complete a miserable night for the men in red.
But the win came with injury worries for England. Nathaniel Chalobah came off in the 39th minute with a groin injury, to be replaced by Will Hughes, and Nathan Redmond was replaced at the break by Jacob Murphy.
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England made the perfect start to the Group A clash at the Kielce Stadium, and it had a very Leicester connection to it.
Ben Chilwell raced down the left and squared in to his Foxes team-mate Demarai Gray.
He made good connection with an effort that took a deflection to loop over Poland keeper Jakub Wrabel and into the goal.
Only six minutes in, and his inclusion in the team at the expense of Tammy Abraham has already been justified
England continued to dominate the first half, and only fine saves from Wrabel denied Nathaniel Chalobah and Alfie Mawson extending the Three Lions' lead.
Group A - The Lowdown
June 16 - Sweden 0 England 0
June 16 - Poland 1 Slovakia 2
June 19 - Slovakia 1 England 2
June 19 - Poland 2 Sweden 2
June 22 - Slovakia 3 Sweden 0
June 22 - England 3 Poland 0
As Poland came out for the first half all-guns blazing, the fear was that England might regret not taking their chances.
But that fear was put to bed in the 69th minute - and that man again Gray was involved.
It was the perfect counter as England snatched possession in their own half, Gray sprinted down the left, and Poland were in grave danger.
He squared to Jacob Murphy in the box who had the simplest of chances to tap the ball over the line for 2-0.
It was another feather in the cap of Aidy Boothroyd, who had introduced the Norwich man to the game at half-time, replacing Nathan Redmond.
And again, it was all credit to the manager for the third that totally killed off any hopes Poland had.
Tammy Abraham, who had been brought on for James Ward-Prowse, tricked his way into the area, only to be brought down by Jan Bednarek.
The Polish defender was shown a second yellow and sent off, and his team's misery was completed when Lewis Baker banged home from the spot.
The victory ensures England won the group with seven points from their three games, while Poland, in their home tournament, finished bottom with just one point.
They now wait to see who they will play in the semi-finals on Tuesday, June 27.
Speaking after the game, man-of-the-match Demarai Gray said: "We knew we had a job to do and we have done it well today. But the job is not over and we are focused on the semis.
"We said we needed to settle the nerves and the early goal helped with that. We stuck to the game-plan and it worked
"I want to score goals and create. It means a lot to score when you pull the shirt on.
"I want to play every game and hopefully I've done enough to keep the shirt and play in the team.
"Everyone knows what depth we have got in the team, if we can put that performance into the semi-finals, we can cause any teams problems."
Boss Aidy Boothroyd added: "It's a great moment, when we had the first game a draw, everybody probably thought it was all doom and gloom.
"But we carried out the game-plan tonight to the tee, we knew the Polish would come flying out, and we dealt with it.
"We had a couple of nervy moments against a team that probably didn't get the points they deserves.
"Demarai [Gray] worked his socks off, and overall it was a really good performance."