[Report originally from www.thefa.com] Sven-Goran Eriksson celebrated his 50th game in charge as England Head Coach in style as the Three Lions recorded a convincing win over Northern Ireland to remain top of Group 6. Strikes from Joe Cole, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard and an own goal from Chris Baird ensured England remain firmly on course to qualify for the World Cup finals in Germany next summer. Eriksson would have been proud of his teams performance at Old Trafford and particularly the performance of Joe Cole who did his chances of cementing a regular place in the team no harm whatsoever with the opening strike. Michael Owen also looked back to his best in the England attack and with another vital World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on Wednesday night, Eriksson knows his side stand a great chance of winning Group 6 ahead of their closers rivals Poland. England started the game strongly and could have opened the scoring after just four minutes. John Terry, who won the vote to play alongside Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the England defence broke free from the back and played a neat ball into the path of Joe Cole. Cole, who was also enjoying a recall to the side was determined to prove he could solve England's left-sided problems. And the Chelsea midfielder almost made a dream start when he made space for himself on the edge of the box, but dragged his shot just wide of the post. England came close on seven minutes when David Beckham's corner fell perfectly for Terry inside the box, but he flashed his header just over the crossbar. Northern Ireland created their first opening of the game on 16 minutes when Tommy Doherty fired a 25-yard shot which went of the England post. But it was the home side who continued to mount pressure on the Northern Ireland goal and Michael Owen had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock on 18 minutes. Joe Cole won the ball in midfield and delivered a neat pass into the path of Frank Lampard. Lampard wasted no time playing Owen through on goal, but with just Maik Taylor to beat, Owen's close-range shot was well saved by the Northern Ireland keeper diving low down to his right. It was only a question of time before Wayne Rooney stamped his authority on proceedings and the Manchester United forward reminded everyone of his ability on 21 minutes. Gary Neville made space for himself down the right before delivering a perfect cross into Rooney, whose flick header beat Taylor, but came back off the post and away to safety. Rooney was involved in the heart of the action once again just two minutes later when his fierce 25-yard drive produced a fine save from Taylor. Beckham then produced one of his trademark free-kicks on 28 minutes from the edge of the penalty area, but saw Taylor make an excellent save to tip the ball around the post. England were denied by Taylor in the Northern Ireland goal once again on 40 minutes when Lampard's drive inside the box was superbly saved by the Birmingham keeper diving low down to his left. But the Three Lions did not have to wait too much longer before opening the scoring in fact just 61 seconds into the second half. Rooney tried to find Beckham inside the box. The ball was cut out by Tony Capaldi, only as far as Cole on the edge of the box and he made no mistake this time planting a sweet shot past Taylor into the corner of the net. England soon made it two on 52 minutes. Lampard played a crucial role in helping the ball through to Owen inside the box and the Real Madrid striker showed he has lost none of his goalscoring instincts when he neatly chipped the ball over Taylor into the back of the net. There was nothing stopping Eriksson's side now and England added a third just two minutes later. The Northern Ireland players simply couldn't handle the threat of Rooney who weaved his way into the box past two players. The England striker attempted to cut the ball back to his strike partner Owen, but Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird turned the ball into his own net from close-range. And England soon scored a fourth on 62 minutes when Lampard's blistering 25-yard shot took a wicked deflection off Colin Murdock and completely wrong-footed Taylor in the Northern Ireland goal. Lampard should have scored his second of the game on 72 minutes. Substitute Kieron Dyer almost made an immediate impact with his first touch when he weaved his way down the right and cleverly cut the ball back for Lampard. But the England midfielder saw his shot cannon back off the crossbar. But Lampard was still left to celebrate with the rest of the England players at the final whistle and will be hoping for a similar performance at St James Park on Wednesday night. edited by Guest (17/02/2006) |