England U21 defeats Serbia U21 to advance to semifinals

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Thanks to stifling defense from keeper Scott Carson and to goals from Leroy Lita and Matt Derbyshire, England defeated Serbia 2-0 on Sunday to secure a spot in the European Under-21 Championship semifinals.

Steven Taylor headed a free-kick from James Milner across the goal to Lita who was able to put away the first goal in the 6th minute.

England failed to put together much of an attack after that until the second half, when substitute Matt Derbyshire secured the controversial winner.

Kieran Richardson put one out in front of Derbyshire, who was onside only because Slobodan Rajkovic was down with an injury.

Derbyshire pressed on without delay and fired home the second half dagger before being bombarded by angry Serbian teammates.

Serbia had already clinched the group before Sunday’s match with England and, despite sitting a majority of their regular starting eleven, managed to dominate large portions of the game. However, they were unable to get past Carson.

Carson, who broke Jamie Carragher’s record for most English U21 caps with 28, made some extraordinary saves for the Three Lions including two spot kicks and a one-on-one breakaway that he was able to save with his legs.

Unfortunately, despite the exciting football being played, the match was overshadowed by derogatory racial chants from Serbian fans in the first half.

UEFA officials were forced to intervene and make an announcement when English defender Nebum Onuoha was the primary target of the chants.

“We will not tolerate your chants. Please stop or leave the stadium,” said the announcer before the end of the first half.

UEFA will wait for the final match report before taking any further action regarding disciplinary action.