England beat Russia comfortably, good first half and shoddy second, 3-0 home win. 

 

Wembley on a Wednesday night, almost packed, tense and expectant.  The second of two home games that are crucial to hopes of European qualification was touted as being more difficult than the win against Israel.  Wembley has yet to develop the spirit and character of the old stadium.  A win would help build an appropriate aura for the new modern arch. 

 

McClaren; beset by injuries; stuck with the winning players from Saturday. 

Robinson got the nod between the sticks; the back four of Richards, Ferdinand, Terry and A.Cole looked untroubled against Israel; Barry retained his midfield spot alongside Gerrard with J.Cole and Wright-Philips on the flanks; Donkey and Owen paired up front. 

 

Hiddink; once a prospect as the England manager; had to put the second choice Malafeev in goal due to suspension of his first choice 'keeper; the back three is the brothers Berezutsky and Ignashevich; a five man midfield is Aniukov, Bilyaletdinov, Zhirkov; would have license to get forward; Semshov and Sychev, Arshavin is the playmaker and Zurianov the only forward. 

 

A bright start from the home side saw plenty of long balls up to Donkey; Ferdinand getting in on the act as well; the Russian threat is muted but much more elegant, Zhirkov making nice runs on the left; then the visitors attack on the right, the covering Ferdinand is beaten and a good cross is cut out by the industrious Barry. 

Another long ball to the Donkey continues an England theme; whereas more football is being played on the right, Richards and Wright-Philips combine and overlap to create problems.  A long throw finds the Donley whose knock down is found by J.Cole, the shot is blocked behind for a corner; Barry's first delivery is blocked and he gets a second chance, the deliver is much better, dropping at the feet of an unmarked Owen who controls the ball then curls one in at the far post. 

The Russian's put the ball on the floor and rely on passing to attack; a corner kick is wasted directly at Robinson. 

England's better moves come through as an alternative to the hoofed ball up field; the Coles combine on the left; Barry and Gerrard start a move in midfield which sees a ball into the box missed by Owen and well saved by a athletic Malafeev off the boot of the Donkey. 

A long but pinpoint ball from the middle finds Zhirkov on the left; he turns Richards inside out then cuts inside and finds Bilyaletdinov, the midfielder slashes one into side netting.  Non existent defending. 

England continues to press, applying the pressure in midfield and maintaining a high pace to the game, Russia is trying to play their way back into the game. 

Owen beats two men on the right and Donkey keeps England's possession going; one the right Wright-Philips and Richards combine to make the 'keeper work; Barry works hard to prevent  chance on left after A.Cole lets his man through; A.Cole and Wright-Philips combine but the diminutive Chelsea player fires wide; Zhirkov cuts inside and finds Zurianov who chests the ball down and whips the ball into the net on the turn, the goal is harshly disallowed for handball when replays clearly show the Russian used his chest and the referee was unsighted. 

Russia get another chance after Zhirkov and Arshavin combine, Bilyaletdinov fires true but Robinson is equal to the shot; Russia start to press England and the home side is starting to sit back and rely on the long ball, Wright-Philips finds Donkey who brings the ball down beautifully only to fluff a relatively simple through ball. 

Bilyaletdinov puts a ball in for Sychev but it's a fraction too high and Robinson claims. 

Wright-Philips showed good hustle to stop a goal kick and the ball isn't cleared well by Russia, J.Cole has a shot well saved by the 'keeper and Gerrard's long range shot is high. 

The breakthrough comes from a long ball, the first one gets put back into midfield by the Russian back line and then comes in again, Donkey nods a diagonal ball on and down and Owen needs just the one touch to hammer the leather sphere into the back of the net. 

England takes their foot off the petrol but retain control of the game for the last quarter hour; mostly.  Owen finds Wright-Phillips but his shot is poor; Zhirkov delivers a deliciously tantalizing cross to on one in particular; Richards cross is cleared; Zhirkov shoots wide; switch to a 4 4 2 with the introduction of Byshov and the withdrawal of Semshov has some benefits, Zhirkov finds Bilyaletdinov in the area through the legs of Ferdinand but Terry cleans things up; Owen passes to Donkey but his back heel is cleared by the Russian defence. 

 

The Russians start hard and fast; attacking straight from the kick off; Zurianov's final ball is a cross/shot and doesn't trouble Robinson. 

Sychev gets the ball in the left channel and fires one across Robinson, but it goes just wide; Zhirkov delivers a cross from the left which beats everyone including the outstretched boot of Sychev by an inch or two; Bystrov beats J.Cole then is bundled over by him but the referee does nothing; Zhirkov finds Zurianov inside the area but England clear. 

The rest of the half is pretty dour, Russia seem to have given up and England sit back, a few flurries from each side but the result seems to be satisfactory for both teams.

England's last fling is started by Barry, he finds Owen who neatly passes the ball to Ferdinand, and he shows a trick to the Russian defender then ices the cake with England's third. 

 

McClaren will be delighted and will undoubtedly take the credit for the win. 

 

Hiddink's reputation wasn't matched by the performance of the Russians.

 

The referee made one calamitous mistake and a few minor ones, the big game changer was in disallowing a perfectly good goal even though he was behind the player and didn't consult with his assistant.  By not awarding the goal the referee all but handed the tie to England. 

 

 

England:-

Robinson

Richards

Ferdinand

Terry

Ashley Cole

Wright-Phillips

Barry

Gerrard

Joe Cole (Neville 88)

Heskey (Crouch 80)

Owen (Downing 90)

 

Booked:-

Cole

 

Goals:-

Owen 7, 30

Ferdinand 84

 

 

Russia:-

Malafeev

Berezutsky

Ignashevich

Berezutsky

Aniukov (Kerzhakov 80)

Bilyaletdinov

Zhirkov

Semshov (Bystrov 40)

Sychev (Pavluchenko 63)

Arshavin

Zurianov

 

Booked:-

 

Goals:-

 

Attendance:-

86106

 

Referee:-

Martin Hansson (SWE).

 

 

Robinson - pulled of a couple of good saves, was alright on the night.

 

Richards - good interplay with Wright-Philips looked stretched at the back when faced with ball skill on occasion, totally skinned once or twice. 

 

Ferdinand- reasonably solid but made one terrible mistake and a couple of other blunder, his distribution was poor. 

 

Terry - a rock.

 

Ashley Cole - got beaten at full back too many times and didn't have too much going forward. 

 

Wright-Phillips - bright and eager, still lacks the killer delivery but works well with Richards. 

 

Barry - Man of the Match, hard work all over the pitch, involved in the goals and helping out his defenders, always available and always had a decent pass when in possession, rarely wasted a ball. 

 

Gerrard - OK, no real threat in attack, reasonable in the middle. 

 

Joe Cole - a few nice flashes, but it's easy to see why he's not a Chelsea starter from this performance. 

 

Heskey - got his head on the ball well, poor with the ball at his feet.  EYORE!

 

Owen - almost back to his best, showed touch and ruthlessness in front of goal and worked hard when pushed wide. 

 

McClaren - he picked a team that beat a poor and an average side.  The tactics were poor; just hoof it to the Donkey; and some of the players he picks hardly showed up, late substitutions didn't give fringe players a shot in a game that was well won.  Barry was MotM but you kinda think that'll he'll no start the next game if Hargreaves is fit.  Downing was his own player but still remains on the bench.  Phil will probably be a first choice once fit.  How does he do when his team is in trouble?  Can he alter the shape or tactics of a team that looked pretty one dimensional?

 

WE WON BUT THE FUTURE LOOKS LESS THAN BRIGHT.