England cruise against Estonia to secure ninth win

LONDON (Reuters) - England, who reached Euro 2016 last month, comfortably beat Estonia 2-0 at Wembley on Friday to stay on course to complete a qualifying campaign with a 100 percent record for the first time.

England cruise against impotent Estonia to secure ninth win

(Reuters)





Goals from Theo Walcott after 45 minutes and Raheem Sterling in the 85th gave England their ninth successive win in a qualifying campaign for the first time.

England lead Group E with 27 points from nine games, with Switzerland also qualifying after beating San Marino 7-0 to climb to 18 points. Estonia have a remote mathematical chance of finishing third after Slovenia where held 1-1 by Lithuania.

England manager Roy Hodgson told ITV: "It was as tough as we thought it would be because we have played against an organised team that are also quite intelligent in the way they play.

"We attacked a lot and saw a lot of the ball and had quite a few chances but it was a question of putting them away.

"But I think we were good value for our 2-0 win. In these type of games if you are not careful and lose your concentration you can slip up.

"People are telling me that this victory tonight will ensure we are seeded for the tournament in France and that is important too."

England were never under any threat from an Estonia side that have only scored four goals in nine matches on a generally subdued night at Wembley.

One of the high spots came before kickoff when Bobby Charlton presented fellow Manchester United great Wayne Rooney with a golden boot for breaking his 45-year-old scoring record with his 50th goal for England last month.

Rooney was out injured but England did not miss him. Ross Barkley created Walcott's opener before halftime with a superb through ball which the Arsenal man collected with a deft right foot touch before his shot gave keeper Mihkel Aksalu no chance.

Sterling doubled the lead five minutes before the end with an easy chance following a cross by substitute Jamie Vardy, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes.





(Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
England cruise against Estonia to secure ninth win | SBS News