Latvia U21s 1 England U21s 2: Mason Mount stars on debut as England take big step towards Euro 2019 qualification

MASON MOUNT capped a stunning debut for England’s Under-21s by firing them to the brink of Euro 2019 qualification.

The Chelsea prospect, currently on a season loan at Derby, scored a second half-winner as the Young Lions came from behind to beat their Lativan counterparts.

Victory put them eight points clear of second-placed Holland at the top of Group 4 in the race to reach the Finals in Italy and San Marino next summer.

England will even book their place tonight if the Dutch kids draw at home to third-placed Scotland in Doetinchem.

England stretched their unbeaten run in qualifiers and play-offs to an incredible THIRTY-THREE matches, dating back to November 2011, as boss Aidy Boothroyd made 10 changes to his starting line-up from Thursday’s 0-0 draw against Holland at Carrow Road.

This clash kicked off after a less than auspicious start to proceedings at the optimistically named Zemgales Olympic Centre, which was little more than a local sports ground with a bumpy pitch surrounded by an athletics track.

Down one side were two beach volleyball courts and and on the other a modern stand with no more than 2,500 seats.

It hardly felt like an international venue, especially when during the English national anthem a photographer snapping the hosts’ bench nudged one of the temporary advertising hoardings, subsequently sending the whole lot crashing down loudly like a giant game of Domino Rally.

If the organisers believed things could not get any more farcial they were wrong as the anthem blaring out the crackly tannoy system suddenly stopped playing less than midway through.

The England lads, though, remained undeterred, as they finished God Save The Queen acapella - as their opponents did with the Latvian anthem when that too packed up playing prematurely moments later.

The game at times was just was just as haphazard as Boothroyd’s boys struggled to keep their feet on a surface that had more bumps than the adjoining BMX track.

Chelsea centre-back Jake Clarke-Salter, currently on loan at Dutch club Vitesse, looked particularly uncomfortable and it was his mix-up with Tottenham’s Kyle Walker-Peters which let in Raivis Andris Jurkovskis to slot Latvia ahead in the 28th minute.

It was only the fourth goal conceded by England in this campaign and only the second occasion they had found themselves behind in a game.

But they were level four minutes before half-time as Walker-Peters atoned for his earlier error by playing a swift slide-rule pass which dissected the home defence and allowed Mount to cross for Tammy Abraham to glance home from six yards.

Jonjoe Kenny almost put England in front at the start of the second half with a dipping shot from the corner of the area which was just too high of the goal.

And Latvia keeper Kristaps Zommers pulled off a magnificent double save to keep out Dominic Solanke and Abraham in the 61st minute.

Zommers then blocked Abraham again and Walker-Peters curled a shot just wide as the visitors went in search of a winner.

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And that came in the 73rd minute when a well-crafted move made its made across the box where Solanke fed Mount, who took a hit before hitting low right-footed shot into the far corner.

Mount almost scored a second in the stoppage with a far-post volley which Zommers fisted away for a corner.