Ethan Nwaneri marked his full England Under-21s debut with a goal in their 4-2 friendly victory over Portugal at The Hawthorns.
The Arsenal youngster was particularly impressive and it only took him only 10 minutes to open his account.
Hayden Hackney had opened the scoring for the hosts but Fabio Silva reduced the deficit for Portugal in the 22nd minute.
Omari Hutchinson, who was sent off against France three days ago, added England’s third before Carlos Forbs pulled one back for Portugal with five minutes left but Jaden Philogene made sure of the victory in added time.
Lee Carsley was looking for his first win since returning to the Under-21s dugout after his interim period with the senior side and he made nine changes from the starting XI that lost 5-3 to France on Friday night.
James Beadle was twice called upon in the opening five minutes to deny Tiago Tomas’ low drilled effort before he stopped Silva straight after.
England did not have to do much before they opened the scoring with their first foray forward.
Hackney was alert to intercept as Portugal aimed to play out from the back and he let fly from outside the box for his second goal at The Hawthorns this season.
Carsley’s side had a second with 10 minutes on the clock thanks to a piece of brilliance from Nwaneri.
Jobe Bellingham spotted Nwaneri in space outside the box and the 18-year-old expertly shifted the ball onto his left foot and bent it into the bottom corner.
England were close to a third when Hutchinson lifted an effort over Joao Carvalho and it looked to be bouncing in until Joao Muniz cleared off the line.
Portugal were also impressive going forward and they finally had their reward midway through the first period – Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes spotted the run of Rodrigo Pinheiro and his cross was tapped home by Silva.
Portugal ought to have been level soon after. Beadle’s quick thinking snuffed out Silva but the ball fell to Gustavo Sa with the goal at his mercy but he saw his effort crash off the post.
The game sparked back into life when Carsley made five second-half substitutions and England soon had a third.
CJ Egan-Riley jumped highest from a corner and guided a header into the path of Hutchinson who was able to nod home from close range.
Borges struck back for Portugal but Philogene rounded the night off with his fourth goal for the Under 21s.
