Blues forward Omari Hutchinson started as England’s U21s beat Spain 3-1 in Trnava, Slovakia to reach the semi-finals of the European Championship.
The 21-year-old, who was winning his ninth U21s cap, was again used on the left and won the corner from which much-improved England scored their opening goal in the 10th minute, Manchester City’s James McAtee slamming a loose ball home following the flag-kick.
Five minutes later, it was 2-0, Harvey Elliott rebounding from close range after the Spanish keeper had failed to hold a shot from his Liverpool teammate Jarell Quansah.
Spain pulled a goal back from the penalty spot on 39 through Javi Guerra, a previous third-minute spot-kick for handball having been overturned by VAR.
Hutchinson, who again had impressed, suffered a head injury when inadvertently caught by a boot when falling three minutes before the break but was able to carry on.
Four minutes after the restart, the former Chelsea man cleverly played in Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield on the edge of the box, a defender diverting his effort behind, then on 52 the Blues’ record signing was one of two players replaced.
Lee Carsley’s side had few scares in the remainder of the game and sealed the victory from the penalty spot in the last of four minutes of injury time through Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Marseille’s Jonathan Rowe having been fouled.
England will face the Netherlands, who beat Portugal 1-0 despite playing with 10 men for 69 minutes, in Bratislava in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
England U21s: James Beadle (Brighton and Hove Albion), Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Chelsea), Tommy Simkin (Stoke City), Charlie Cresswell (FC Toulouse), Ronnie Edwards (Southampton), CJ Egan-Riley (Burnley), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Brooke Norton Cuffy (Genoa), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland), Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur), Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough), Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton and Hove Albion), Tyler Morton (Liverpool), Alex Scott (AFC Bournemouth), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool), Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town), Sam Iling Jnr (Aston Villa), James McAtee (Manchester City), Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal), Jonathan Rowe (Marseille), Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City).