Euro Qualifying Group E
England (2) 3 Owen 7, 31 Ferdinand 84
Russia (0) 0
Att. 86,106
Entrance: £45
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/1,207
Match Report
A memorable Wembley night. Defeat would have almost certainly consigned England to a summer watching Euro 2008 from their own front rooms and even a draw would have left an Austrian/Swiss mountain to climb. Buoyed by Saturday’s comfortable win over Israel, the Wembley crowd at last produced an atmosphere that was worthy of the occasion and England rose to the task with a magnificent victory.Nothing will ever come completely easy with our national team and they rode their luck at times. After an early Michael Owen strike the Russians had a goal ruled out for handball. I certainly didn’t see it at the time and television pictures proved that the visitors were hard done by. The Russians enjoyed a spell of superiority in terms of possession until a second piece of catastrophic defending saw Owen once again given the freedom of the 18-yard box to drive home. It was amazing having seen the two goals to remember that Russia had gone the previous eight games in this group conceding just a solitary goal. England continued to make and fail to take chances throughout the rest of an exhilarating first half with the Russians showing pace and very good movement in some fine counter-attacks, but overall their finishing was woeful.
The second half started in much the same attacking vein but it was Russia that forced the pace early on but once again their finishing was no match for their creative play. Slowly but surely England took the heat out of the game and eventually Rio Ferdinand of all people lashed home a third to make the game safe.
There was some fine individual performances throughout the England side. Emile Heskey was substituted to a deserved standing ovation. OK the balls launched towards Heskey never made for pretty viewing but the Russians never, at any time, came to terms with the tactic. Gareth Barry has added so much balance to the midfield and then there is Michael Owen. Given that he has only about 10 games under his belt since returning from long-term injury he probably still has something to come in terms of sharpness, but his two goals showed that he remains a world-class striker.
The group is left with everything in England’s hands and a draw in Moscow will almost certainly be enough to take them through to the finals. But, Russia showed more than enough to guard against any sort of tub thumping, something that the stadium announcer was very guilty of last night. Sorry Sir, but we are a long way from booking our tickets for Austria/Switzerland and fate need not have been tempted.
More than anything else I didn't want our Moscow visit to become a purely sightseeing trip, thankfully the last four days have assured a pivotal match in the group barring a disaster against Estonia.
Our search for the perfect seat took a step forward. Eight rows further forward made a significant difference and for next month’s Estonia game we move another 16 rows on and from there I reckon we will have found our ideal viewing position.
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