England work hard for Wembley win
Saturday, October 11, 2008
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England 5-1 Kazakhstan
England continued their winning start to qualifying but were made to work hard by a young Kazakhstan side before three late strikes for the hosts.
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Headed goals
Hopes were high at Wembley after England's September victories in Andorra and, notably, Croatia but Kazakhstan caretaker coach Bernd Storck had his side well drilled and they only fell behind when two Frank Lampard set-pieces were headed in by Rio Ferdinand and visiting defender Aleksandr Kuchma early in the second half. Zhambyl Kukeyev reduced arrears with a debut goal but Wayne Rooney made sure of the win with two late strikes, before substitute Jermain Defoe added a fifth that made the scoreline hard on Kazakhstan.
Five debutants
Steven Gerrard's return from injury allowed England coach Fabio Capello to adopt a 4-3-3 formation and on the right Theo Walcott showed he was determined to build on his hat-trick in Croatia with a run and cross that Emile Heskey nearly forced in. Dealing with the pace of Walcott was proving tough for a Kazakhstan team that included new caps Alexander Kirov, Alexander Kislitsyn, Tanat Nusserbayev, Sergey Skorykh and Kukeyev, but by defending in numbers the visitors were soaking up the England pressure.
Ferdinand goal
Two minutes after the restart, Kazakhstan so nearly took the lead. Sabyrkhan Ibrayev strode down the right and his centre was headed down for Nusserbayev, who shot over from close range. Within five minutes Ferdinand had nodded England in front, meeting an inswinging Lampard corner at the far post.
Lead doubled
Almost immediately, England goalkeeper David James had to be alert to deny the lively Nusserbayev. But England doubled their advantage on 64 minutes from another set-piece, Lampard's free-kick being headed into his own net by Kuchma under pressure from Rooney. Three minutes later, Kukuyev pulled one back after intercepting an Ashley Cole ball across defence and calmly slotting past James.
Late goals
England responded well and Walcott combined with Wes Brown to cross for Rooney to power in another headed goal, before he struck again with five minutes left after a free-kick from David Beckham was touched back by Matthew Upson. Defoe came off the bench to add another on the break in the last minute and further boost England's morale before Wednesday's trip to Belarus. Kazakhstan have three points and the first qualifying task for their new permanent coach will be the visit of Belarus on 1 April.