England Under-21s have got off to a winning start in the Euro 2017 qualifiers following a 1-0 win over Norway Under-21s in their clash at the Ullevaal Stadion, thanks to James Ward-Prowse's penalty.
England coach Gareth Southgate kept faith with the side which beat USA Under-23s on Thursday as the revamped team looked to move on from finishing bottom of their group at this summer's European Championship.
The visitors had most of the early possession and Cauley Woodrow saw his powerful drive from the edge of the area blocked as England registered their first attempt on goal, but Norway began to dominate as the first half wore on.
The hosts came within inches of opening the scoring when Tottenham's Dele Alli nearly put the ball into his own net from a Thomas Grogaard cross, and they came even closer just three minutes later when Ghayas Zahid's curling effort came back off the crossbar with Jordan Pickford beaten.
The pace of Jordon Ibe and Nathan Redmond caused problems for the Norwegian full-backs but could not yield a genuine goalscoring opportunity until England were handed a golden chance for a breakthrough just before the half-time whistle.
Redmond burst into the penalty area and was felled by Norway captain Jonas Gronner, and new England skipper Ward-Prowse converted confidently to hand the visitors the lead somewhat against the run of play.
The second half started in end-to-end fashion and both teams nearly scored in the space of less than a minute when Ward-Prowse saw his shot blocked after he had beaten two Norwegian defenders, before Zahid fired wide from a tight angle.
Veton Berisha was also involved just before the hour, but Pickford was impervious in between the sticks and kept out his near-post effort.
Norway kept up the pressure in the second half as England appeared to be in danger of crumbling, but the Sunderland stopper - on loan at Preston North End - wasn't to be denied as the Young Lions saw out the game and claimed all three points.
Tom Nightingale
Spain U21s
