Euro 2008 - England cruise past Russia
Eurosport - Wed, 12 Sep 23:41:00 2007
Michael Owen struck twice as England brushed Russia aside 3-0 at Wembley to complete a hugely successful four days.
Owen's 39th and 40th international goals - and Rio Ferdinand's second - saw off a poor Russia side that have won none of their last 12 away games against sides ranked in the world's top 30.
The result - on the back of a 3-0 win against Israel - moves England into second place in qualifying Group E, and in good shape to reach Euro 2008 along with leaders Croatia.
On Saturday morning, Steve McClaren's side were fourth in the section and with their place in the finals in serious doubt.
But six points and six points have changed all that, with England two points ahead of Russia and three clear of Israel with two matches remaining.
With big names such as David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Gary Neville all missing, it was their direct replacements - Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emile Heskey, Gareth Barry and Micah Richards - who provided much of England's impetus.
Injured and 5,000 miles away, Beckham might wonder if his international career might be over after all following the superb displays of Wright-Phillips.
An unchanged line-up started the game as they had finished against Israel, tearing into their opponents and searching out weaknesses.
It took a little over six minutes to find one. Barry crossed left-footed from the right and over the leaping John Terry and Konstantin Zyrianov.
The ball landed to the unmarked Owen, who sidefooted gleefully home from six yards.
It should have been two on 11 minutes, when Heskey - preferred to Peter Crouch - was put clean through but saw his effort repelled by Viacheslav Malafeev, then Owen slipped as he prepared to slam home the rebound.
An all-action first half did not see one-way traffic. Andrei Arshavin might have done better with a long ball over the top, before Zyrianov had the ball in the net on 19 minutes only for the goal to be chalked off.
The forward was adjudged to have used his hand to control the ball, but replays showed he was unlucky.
Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole might have scored while Diniyar Bilyaletdinov had a chance at the other end as the game was played at a frantic pace.
Despite his clumsy touch, Heskey proved a battering ram up front and got the assist for the second just after the half-hour. He headed down a long ball to Owen - amazingly unmarked again - who volleyed high into the left corner of the net.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink reacted quickly, bringing Vladimir Bystrov off the bench. He quickly made his presence felt, with his incisive runs down the right causing serious problems for Ashley Cole.
Early in the second half he might have had a penalty when hauled down by the Chelsea man as England temporarily forgot how to defend.
The home side eventually found their feet and ensured the second period was less eventful than the first.
Joe Cole was booked for a clumsy tackle from behind and Wright-Phillips tested Malafeev but the game seemed to be petering out before Ferdinand's party piece.
The centre-back collected an Owen pass before beating Bystrov with a superb piece of skill and battering the ball low into the net.
Ferdinand's strike gave England's pair of international games a sense of symmetry and of decisiveness.
England played their best football under McClaren with many of their so-called stars missing. It should make for some intriguing selection dilemmas when they take on Estonia, Russia - again - and Croatia in their final three matches.
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England's hopes of a further boost were dashed as Croatia avoided a slip-up in Andorra, beating the Pyrenean nation 6-0.
Mladen Petric scored twice, while Darijo Srna, Ivan Rakitic and Premier League duo Niko Kranjcar and Eduardo da Silva all found the net.
The hosts' misery was compounded 14 minutes from time when Genis Garcia was dismissed. Slaven Bilic's side have a five-point cushion over third-place Russia with three games left.
Macedonia and Estonia shared the points in a largely meaningless 1-1 draw in Skopje. With both sides eliminated from the qualifying race, there was only pride up for grabs.
Raio Piiroja gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead, only for the hosts to peg them back on the half-hour through Goran Maznov.
Macedonia move on to eight points, while Estonia have four after avoiding defeat for just the second time in 10 games.
Alex Chick / Eurosport