EURO U21S: NORWAY 0-1 ENGLAND| MATCH REPORT

James Ward-Prowse fired England Under-21s to a winning start in their Uefa European U21 Championship qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory over Norway Under-21s on Monday.

The hosts, coached by Leif Gunnar Smerud, controlled much of the play but gave away a cheap penalty on the stroke of half-time, allowing Ward-Prowse to dispatch comfortably from the spot.

England created little in the attacking third after the restart and, despite continued Norway pressure, Gareth Southgate's side hung on for a second 1-0 victory in the space of a week

Norway, who opened their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina in June, started Veton Berisha up top with Martin Odegaard in behind as they looked to extend their points tally in Group 9.

Southgate named an unchanged eleven from the side that beat USA Under-23s by a single goal, retaining Cauley Woodrow as their lone-striker up front, ahead of last week's match-winner James Wilson.

Morten Thorsby proved difficult to handle for England in the first-half and nearly capitalised on an error from Dele Alli, picking up his loose touch inside the area to force Jordan Pickford into a smart save from just yards out.

Within minutes Norway rattled the crossbar after Ghayas Zahid picked up a pass from Odegaard and dropped his shoulder to beat Ward-Prowse on the edge of the area, only for his effort to crash onto the upright.

And despite their first-half dominance, Norway found themselves trailing at the break after Jonas Gronner conceded a penalty for a foul on Nathan Redmond, allowing Ward-Prowse to dispatch from the spot.

Nathaniel Chalobah replaced Alli at the interval but the hosts' pressure from the first-half continued into the second, as Iver Fossum and Veton Berisha tested the Three Lions goal with narrow misses.

Jordon Ibe then provided a brief glimmer of excitement in the final third for England, which was few and far between in the second half, driving forward from the halfway line as he cut inside to drag a shot wide.

The hosts continued to search for an opening and should have been level on 68 minutes through Berisha, who turned Joe Gomez easily inside the penalty area, only to fire a first-time effort straight at Pickford.

Norway continued to pose a threat to the England goal but failed to score for the fifth time in their last six fixtures, slipping to a narrow defeat in Drammen.