Portugal Under-21 4-2 England Under-21

Ameobi scored twice but was sent-off

England's Under-21 team saw their chances of qualifying for the European Championships dealt a blow with a defeat by Portugal at the Municipal Stadium.

England were quickly into their stride but went behind when Titus Bramble's mistake allowed Helder Postiga to give Portugal the lead.

Shola Ameobi replied for the visitors almost immediately, but England were again behind within two minutes through a Gareth Barry own goal.

The visitors again responded and the impressive Ameobi was again the goalscorer with a cool, calm and collected finish.

But Portugal put the game out of reach with goals from Carlos Martins and Cristiano Ronaldo.

To make matters worse, Ameobi was harshly sent off for England as his side lost the first of two vital matches with a game against Group Seven leaders Turkey on Tuesday.

Portugal's win takes them above England into second place in the group.

The purists may not have been satisfied with some of the defending from both sides but the match proved to be an entertaining affair.

England's promising start was undone by Bramble's error after seven minutes.

The Newcastle defender gave away possession to Cristiano Ronaldo and he laid a pass into the path of Postiga, who powered a shot into the far corner.

Portugal's lead was short-lived as Ameobi made up for his Newcastle team-mate's mistake by touching the ball past keeper Moreira and slotting in from a tight angle.

The home team regained the lead when Manchester United target Ricardo Quaresma's shot took a deflection off England captain Gareth Barry.

It was left to Ameobi to come to the visitors' rescue and he did so by racing onto a through ball before skilfully rounding keeper Moriera and side-footing into an empty net.

Portugal suffered a blow when Hugo Viana - another Newcastle player - was forced off with a shoulder injury after 32 minutes.

England coach David Platt replaced Michael Carrick with Jordan Stewart for the second half which began with Portugal dominating.

The home side penned England back and took the lead through Carlos Martins.

Martins had struck the post with a free-kick just a minute earlier but made no mistake when Quaresma laid a well-worked free-kick into his path.

Martins powered a low shot past keeper Stephen Bywater from 25 yards.

England tried to find an equaliser but, instead, were caught out on the counter-attack with Ronaldo adding Portugal's fourth.

Ameobi's late dismissal now means he will miss the match at St James' Park against Turkey on Tuesday.

Portugal: Moreira, Alves, Ricardo Costa, Bosingwa, Mario Sergio, Tiago, Viana, Jorge Ribeiro, Quaresma, Postiga, Ronaldo. Subs: Beto, Martins, Neves, Paulo, Candido Costa, Lourenco, Makukula.

England: Bywater, Samuel, Dawson, Bramble, Konchesky, Joe Cole, Prutton, Carrick, Barry, Ameobi, Defoe. Subs: Clarke, Murray, Nolan, Stewart, Pennant, Etherington, Crouch.

Referee: Bertron Layec (France)