Eddie Nketiah netted a hat-trick as England U21s routed Austria U21 5-1 to move top of their Euro 2021 qualifying group.
The Young Lions moved top of their qualifying group with an emphatic win which owed everything to a stunning first-half performance, with Nketiah netting two goals of what ended up a second career hat-trick.
The Arsenal loanee netted two close-range finishes (28, 39) sandwiched between fine strikes from Callum Hudson-Odoi (12, 45), the second a wonderful curling effort after a 40-yard run from the halfway line.
With such an emphatic lead Aidy Boothroyd's side dropped their intensity after the break and never fully regained their stride.
They allowed Christoph Baumgartner to net a consolation (66), but Nketiah did secure the match-ball with 11 minutes to go when he turned in Rhian Brewster's low cross.
He still had time to miss a late penalty in the final five minutes but that made little difference on a sparkling night for the U21s, who knock their visitors off top spot in Group 3, with a game in hand.
Stunning first half earns England victory
You will rarely see a side cut another open at this level as much as England did to an in-form Austria before the break. Phil Foden ran the midfield battle but it was a wonderful cross-field pass from Lloyd Kelly that really got them going, finding Max Aarons on the right before his low cross was fired home powerfully by Hudson-Odoi.
Now into their stride, England added a second when Foden's corner was bundled in by Nketiah, and he soon added a second by rising to glance home a perfect centre from Dwight McNeil.
Austria could not cope with England's pace, trickery and guile as the front four interchanged at will, often overloading the visitors' backline, and eventually leading to the fourth goal.
On the break, Hudson-Odoi had four options up with him but raced from the halfway line to the edge of the box, chose against playing one of them in and instead curled a stunning effort beyond Fabian Ehmann.
England's second-half performance lacked the sparkle of their opening 45 minutes, with their passing lacking the zip or incision before the break, and they were punished for some lax defending when Christoph Baumgartner headed home Marco Grull's cross after beating Marc Guehi in the air.
The hosts still created the odd chance though, and the introduction of Brewster added some more raw pace to worry Austria. So it proved 11 minutes from time when the Liverpool man advanced down the right, collected a pass from Sessegnon and looked into the middle for Nketiah, who slotted home his hat-trick goal.
He could have put the cherry on a very large personal cake late on after Brewster was fouled by Ehmann in the box, but the goalkeeper redeemed himself to keep out his effort from 12 yards.