Young Lions rise above chaos

England ensured their progression to the European Under 21 Championship semi-finals with a stormy 2-0 win over Serbia in Nijmegen.

Reading striker Leroy Lita put Stuart Pearce's side ahead inside five minutes, but the real action occurred in the second half when Matt Derbyshire came on to score a controversial second.

With a Serbian defender lying injured on the floor, the striker played on to fire home, provoke a prolonged row between both sets of players, and take England through to the last four at Italy's expense.

In the dying seconds of a bad natured encounter, Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone was shown a red card to rule him out of the semi-final, apparently for foul and abusive language.

The Group B encounter also witnessed unsavoury scenes in the stands as the announcer in Nijmegen was forced to appeal to Serbia fans to stop targeting England defender Nedum Onuoha with racist abuse.

After just five minutes, Lita's action-packed tournament continued when Steven Taylor headed a James Milner free-kick back across goal.

Luckily for the Reading man, he did not add to his catalogue of misses and bundled home a header from two yards out for his second strike of the tournament.

England were inches away from doubling their lead on 12 minutes when Kieran Richardson - in for the suspended Ashley Young - swung in a free-kick, but after the ball flicked off Nigel Reo-Coker's back it skimmed over the bar.

Serbia were largely limited to long range efforts in the early stages and Nikola Petkovic saw an ambitious free-kick easily claimed by Scott Carson - making a record 28th appearance for the England Under 21 side.

The Liverpool keeper was also equal to a deflected shot from Predrag Pavlovic after 37 minutes in what was becoming a somewhat uncomfortable end to the first-half for England in Nijmegen.

Serbian defender Gojko Kacar also rose above Lita from a corner with a minute to go, but could not steer his header on target and England retained their slender advantage at the break.

On 55 minutes, Milner forced Serbian keeper Aleksander Kesic into a flying save from a free-kick and, as play quickly transferred to the other end of the pitch, only an excellent stop from Carson prevented Djordje Ivelja from equalising.

As the pressure mounted on the England goal, Carson continued to impress when clasping Slobodan Rajkovic's half-volley as Pearce's men pushed their luck.

Lita almost produced a moment of genius to give his side a two-goal cushion though, as the Reading striker saw his acrobatic bicycle kick tipped wide by the alert Kesic.

Despite his inventive effort, Lita was sacrificed for Derbyshire as the game began to turn Serbia's way, and the Blackburn forward made an immediate, and controversial, impact on the game.

With a Serbian defender on the floor and signalling for treatment, Derbyshire invoked the fury of England's opponents when he took advantage of the prone Rajkovic to collect Richardson's through-ball and fire past the keeper.

Serbia felt incensed by Derbyshire's ruthlessness and hounded the striker and his team-mates as a lengthy shoving match ensued. Milner was booked for his part in the ruckus, and Kacar followed the winger into the referee's notebook.

When both sides calmed down Petkovic rattled the post with a cross-cum-shot, and with seconds to go there was still time for Huddlestone to see red before Serbia threatened late on with a number of chances.

However, England held on amidst the chaos to book their place in the semi-finals.