England Under-21s have cruised to a 7-1 victory over Guinea Under-23s at the Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny to move to the top of Group B at the Toulon Tournament.
The Young Lions found themselves behind just 48 seconds in, but they soon recovered to bag seven of their own which proved enough to usurp Paraguay at the top of the standings ahead of Wednesday's meeting between the pair.
It proved to be a special evening for Jack Grealish in particular, who was handed his full debut at this level - a year after switching allegiance from the Republic of Ireland - and found the net twice to celebrate the occasion as his side made it two wins from two.
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The three-goal lead England took into the interval may have suggested that it was all one-way traffic in the first half, but a well-contested opening half-hour saw Guinea give their opponents a real scare.
Thierno Diallo's rather scuffed opener, coming after some nice build-up play down the right that simply caught the Young Lions cold, gave the African nation a platform to push on.
The closest they came to a second arrived soon after when Mamadou Guarassy tested Manchester City youngster Angus Gunn down low at his near post.
England were soon in their groove, levelling up when Grealish volleyed home from from Cauley Woodrow's left-sided cross just moments after the Fulham product squandered a one-on-one chance of his own.
Nathan Redmond then hit the bar to send out a further warning of what was to come, before England finally moved up the gears and earned a penalty when Matt Grimes saw his attempted pass cut out by an opposition hand.
James Ward-Prowse was very nearly denied by Ousmane Doukoure, who dived the right way but could not quite push the ball to safety to prevent the young forward edging his side ahead.
Despite being far from their attacking best, two more goals would arrive prior to the break for England as Redmond smashed home a rocket from 30 yards out, while Grealish tucked home in a far simpler manner inside the box with the last act of the half.
Only the outside of the post denied John Swift from adding his own name to the scoresheet a couple of minutes into the second half, although there was to be no holding the four-time winners of this competition back for the remainder.
A rather fortunate Woodrow strike, which took a wicked deflection on its way past Doukoure, gave England their fifth of the evening, before Woodrow this time took matters into his own hands with a cool slide-rule finish for number six.
Goal difference was now very much on manager Gareth Southgate's mind, and he sent on Duncan Watmore who played a vital part in the final goal of the night - bursting through and laying the ball on a plate for Woodrow to roll home.
England now top the Group B standings by virtue of a superior goal difference over Paraguay, who they meet on Wednesday evening in a likely tussle for a place in the tournament final.
Daniel Lewis
