Post by Salem6 on Sept 2, 2006 21:15:51 GMT
England cruised to victory in their opening Euro 2008 qualifier against Andorra at Old Trafford.
"Super Peter Crouchey"® celebrates scoring England's opening goal
Peter Crouch put England in front after four minutes and Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard quickly added a second with a brilliant finish.
Jermain Defoe was on target with crisp finishes either side of half-time as England dominated completely.
Crouch headed home his second from substitute Aaron Lennon's cross after 65 minutes to seal an easy win.
It was a good day's work for new England coach Steve McClaren, but Andorra were desperately poor and failed to mount a single attack in the entire 90 minutes.
Wes Brown, as expected, took injured Rio Ferdinand's place in defence, while Defoe kept his place alongside Crouch up front.
The combination was effective in the 4-0 win against Greece - and Crouch was in the goals again after only four minutes.
Defoe touched the ball inside to Ashley Cole, and when the new Chelsea defender found Crouch, he swept a composed finish past Koldo.
And Crouch's Liverpool captain Gerrard doubled England's advantage with a classic strike eight minutes later.
Cole's long cross arrived at the far post for Gerrard to chest down and fire a powerful drive high past Koldo.
England's superiority was overwhelming, and almost embarrassing, against an Andorra side so poor that it raised questions about the worth of the fixture.
It lulled England into a quiet spell until Defoe got England back on the goal trail eight minutes before the interval.
Gerrard was the creator with a superb right-flank cross that Defoe met with a crisp side-foot finish past the under-siege Koldo.
And Defoe added England's fourth in the 47th minute, latching on to Phil Neville's long header to score powerfully.
Owen Hargreaves had once again been highly effective and was twice denied by the woodwork.
McClaren made a double change after 63 minutes - sending on Lennon and Kieran Richardson for Neville and Stewart Downing.
And it reaped an instant reward as Lennon delivered a perfect cross for Crouch to head home his second.
Everton's Andrew Johnson replaced Defoe, and he looked sharp as he almost set up Crouch's third, but he shot wide.
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England: Robinson, Neville, Brown, Terry, Cole, Gerrard, Hargreaves, Lampard, Downing, Crouch, Defoe. Subs: Kirkland, Dawson, Carrick, Richardson, Lennon, Bent, Johnson.
Andorra: Alvarez, Antoni Lima, Garcia Luena, Ayala, Sonejee, Javi Sanchez, Sivera, Vieira, Silva, Pujol, Ruiz. Subs: Alfonso Sanchez, Juli Sanchez, Moreno, Jimenez, Garcia, Rubio, Fernandez.
Referee: Bernhard Brugger (Austria)
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/5289630.stm