England 2 Kosovo 0: Watch Man City prospect Cole Palmer score stunner as Young Lions ease to Euro U21 qualifying victory
COLE PALMER showed why Pep Guardiola kept him at Manchester City this season as he lit up Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s bow.
Winger Palmer, 19, followed up Rhian Brewster’s penalty with a breathtaking second, pulling off an impudent Cruyff turn and firing into the corner.
It was the highlight from a promising first game in charge for new boss Carsley, who succeeded Aidy Boothroyd in the summer as Young Lions chief.
There were eye-catching displays all over the pitch in a dominant performance but it was Palmer who shone brightest on his first Under-21 appearance.
The teenager would have had no shortage of takers to take him on loan this summer.
But City chief Guardiola preferred to keep the Manchester-born whizkid at the Etihad to personally oversee his development, just as he did a few years ago with Phil Foden.
The Spaniard has already shown how much he rates Palmer by playing him in the Community Shield and as a sub against Norwich, despite his embarrassment of riches out wide.
Palmer probably would not have started here were it not for Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe feeling unwell with a non-Covid illness, believed to be tonsillitis.
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Carsley, assisted by Ashley Cole and Joleon Lescott, made the perfect start when Brewster converted from the spot after being felled by the goalkeeper.
Palmer then took centre-stage by fooling the defender with his skilful turn and clinical finish to delight the 5,781 fans inside stadium:MK.
No more goals followed but it was still a very satisfying evening for Carsley, who had seen Friday’s friendly against Romania be cancelled due to two Covid cases in the Three Lions camp.
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The win made it 46 unbeaten qualifiers for England’s Under-21 side in a run that is almost a decade long.
That statistic proves how nothing less than a victory was expected here.
But Carsley will be encouraged by what he saw, and by Palmer in particular.