Tom Cleverley sparkled from the outset on his competitive
England debut to play a key role in a facile 5-0 mauling of Moldova in
the World Cup qualifiers.
The midfielder, wearing No10
and playing in an advanced role, earned a penalty from the first real
attack of the game when his shot was handled by Simeon Bulgaru. Frank
Lampard converted the spot-kick before heading a second and the match
was over as a contest before half-time thanks to Jermain Defoe's
near-post effort.
Michael Carrick came on for Steven Gerrard for the second half and Danny Welbeck
was introduced at the expense of Defoe on 68 minutes. After Cleverley
had decent attempts in both halves, he was heavily involved with fellow
Academy graduate Welbeck in assisting James Milner's fourth strike. A
hugely-deflected Leighton Baines free-kick rounded off a one-sided
affair.
Two-goal Lampard, the Chelsea midfielder, told ITV Sport afterwards: "Tom Cleverley's a pleasure to play alongside. He's going to be part of the team for years to come."
Robin van Persie
carried on from where he left off last weekend with another goal and
another header from a corner. The deadly Dutchman met Wesley Sneijder's
set-piece from the left with a perfectly-guided finish as the
Netherlands defeated Turkey 2-0.
Patrice Evra was also on the winning side after playing all 90 minutes of France's 1-0 triumph in Finland and Nani was
outstanding in the first half as Portugal toiled somewhat against
Luxembourg but ran out 2-1 victors with Cristiano Ronaldo on the
scoresheet.
Joshua King came off the bench to make his debut for
Norway in Iceland and went close to scoring - seeing a goal disallowed
and also hitting the woodwork. However, Egil Olsen's side slipped to a
2-0 defeat with ex-Red Magnus Eikrem starting in midfield.
Jonny Evans played
in Northern Ireland's 2-0 defeat to Russia in Moscow with the visitors
adopting an approach that was criticised by coach Fabio Capello. The
Italian said he was upset with a defensive formation and "long ball"
tactics deployed by Michael O'Neill's side.
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