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Stuart Pearce's England U21s comprehensively outplayed Spain in Gothenburg to progress to the semi-finals of the European U21 Championships with a 2-0 victory.

Two goals in the space of six minutes in the second half did the damage for England, with Frazier Campbell and James Milner finding the net - the latter making up for an earlier penalty miss - to make their side the first to qualify for the next round of the tournament.

From the opening whistle England looked the better side, with Gabriel Agbonlahor latching on to Milner's excellent cross in the first minute, forcing the first of several good stops from the excellent Spanish keeper Sergio Asenjo.

After that, however, the game slipped into a very slow tempo that saw little invention from the England team - and even less from the Spanish, whose disinterested performance was slightly baffling considering the potential importance of the game within the context of the tournament.

The next clear chance turned out to be a mix-up in the England defensive quarters that almost gifted a terrible own goal, as Nedum Onuoha overhit his 13th minute back pass to Joe Hart.

To make matters worse, Hart was miles out of position but the Manchester City keeper just about scrabbled back to collect the ball before it drifted over the line.

England edged possession for the rest of the half, but it wasn't until the half-hour mark that the next clear chance came when Milner's run into the box was ended clumsily by a mis-timed challenge by Javi Garcia.

Milner picked himself up to take the spot kick, and though it was a good effort Asenjo guessed well and dived brilliantly to palm the ball around the right post.

The chance prompted more fight from Spain, and on 37 minutes Bojan Krkic gave the hosts their first chance of the night - and their only chance of the first half - with a rifled effort from 25 yards that had Hart beaten but refused to curl enough to find the top corner.

The same player enjoyed the first chance of the second half when played into space on the edge of the box after 49 minutes, but miscontrolled to squander the opportunity and was substituted a few minutes later.

Another England defensive error almost gifted Spain the lead on 54 minutes as Raul Garcia caught Hart miles out of his goal - and in fact well outside of the penalty box - but his shot was cleared off the line by Kieran Gibbs, who tracked back furiously to get there.

The match had begun to look evenly balanced, but then the first of the goals changed everything as Milner's ball put Campbell in on the defence.

The substitute striker - brought on for the injured Agbonlahor just before the break - took it brilliantly, cutting back up to the edge of the box to lose his markers, and then slamming a stunning left-foot strike cleanly into the bottom-right corner giving Asenjo no chance.

And six minutes later a piece of individual brilliance from Theo Walcott gave Milner the goal that his performance deserved and put the match beyond doubt.

The Arsenal star's pace left the Spanish defence standing as he charged down the left flank, and the ball pulled back to Milner allowed the Villa man to bury a perfect finish into the centre of the goal.

The Spanish tried hard to come back in to the match, but the impressive England defence closed ranks effectively as England secured their passage into the semi-finals of the tournament - and in this form, they look likely to prove tough opposition for whoever they come to meet in the next round.

Toby Keel / Eurosport