England U21s 3-0 Kazakhstan U21s: Loftus-Cheek stars in easy win

Ruben Loftus-Cheek inspired England's U21s to breeze past Kazakhstan 3-0 and maintain their 100 per cent European qualifying record.

The Chelsea midfielder opened the scoring to send a reminder to Jose Mourinho that he may be ready to help the struggling Premier League champions.

The 19-year-old has only played 17 minutes of top-flight football this season, but produced a stand-out performance as England won in Coventry.

Nathan Redmond and Chuba Akpom - on his debut - added to the scoreline and it should have been more as Loftus-Cheek and Akpom hit the woodwork.

Victory completed successive wins in their opening two Group Nine games in Gareth Southgate's side quest to reach Euro 2017.

Southgate had warned not to expect a goal rush, but his young guns immediately set out to prove him wrong as they dominated from the off.

Jordon Ibe fired wide and Berick Shaikhov blocked from Loftus-Cheek in the opening 10 minutes.

Slick England were streets ahead of their visitors and Akpom was inches away from a deserved opener when he smacked a shot against the inside of a post after 12 minutes.

It was a glorified training session for the hosts, with Kazakhstan packing nine men behind the ball and lone striker Abat Aimbetov given a thankless, lonely task.

Goalkeeper Stanislav Pavlov denied the influential Loftus-Cheek, but England's procession lacked a goal and Akpom headed James Ward-Prowse's corner over.

Hull's Arsenal loanee had not scored in 10 games and should have ended his drought instead of planting his six-yard header off target.

Kazakhstan even then managed a couple of raids of their own as Didar Zhalmukan volleyed wide and Matt Targett blocked Shaikhov's drive eight minutes before the break.

Southampton left-back Targett then tested Pavlov from distance, but England finally scored eight minutes after the restart when Ward-Prowse's free kick was only half cleared to Loftus-Cheek and the midfielder rifled in from 12 yards.

And he was denied a second 10 minutes later - after excellent work from Ibe - when his shot was deflected wide.

England never looked in danger of losing their lead - and were only troubled when Joe Gomez limped off after landing awkwardly - and doubled it on 69 minutes thanks to Jordan Pickford's brilliant vision.

The 'keeper picked out an unmarked Redmond with a stunning 60-yard pass and the Norwich winger cut inside before sliding past Pavlov at the near post.

Loftus-Cheek had the chance to add the gloss in the final 10 minutes when he rattled the bar from close range, but Akpom did make it 3-0 in stoppage time with the final touch of the game.