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By Trevor Huggins
MANCHESTER, England, March 26 - England stormed to
a 4-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Northern Ireland at Old
Trafford on Saturday as the Group Six leaders unleashed a
second-half goal blitz.
Deadlocked at the break despite laying siege to the Northern
Ireland goal, England scored four times in 17 minutes to leave
their neighbours reeling.
Joe Cole, who produced a superb performance in his first
competitive start, got things moving with a 47th minute strike.
Michael Owen added the second five minutes later, an own goal
by Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird after great work by
Wayne Rooney made it 3-0 and Frank Lampard turned victory into a
rout with a deflected shot after 62 minutes.
Victory ensured England stay top of the group and also
provided an ideal way for manager Sven-Goran Eriksson to
celebrate his 50th game in charge.
England have 13 points from five games, four clear of
Poland, who play Azerbaijan later on Saturday. Austria, 2-0
winners in Wales, are third on eight.
England were made to wait for their victory over a side who
have plummeted in the world rankings to 111th but whose keeper
Maik Taylor was on inspired form in the first half.
However, the gulf in class between the likes of Rooney, who
had a hand in two of the goals, and a side drawn mainly from
clubs outside the Premier League eventually made itself felt.
The winning margin could easily have been much wider and
will clearly have Eriksson's men looking forward to Wednesday's
qualifier against Azerbaijan at Newcastle.
England began well, with Cole rising to the occasion with a
series of darting runs from left midfield and linking up well
with Rooney.
Northern Ireland defended in numbers, as expected, but
Lawrie Sanchez's men were fortunate not to be two or three goals
behind midway through the half.
Owen was put clean through by Lampard for a shot which
Taylor smothered and Rooney was twice denied with a header which
hit a post and a fierce drive that was palmed away for a corner.
NERVES SETTLED
Other England efforts simply cannoned off players of both
sides in an over-populated final third as the hosts pushed
forward relentlessly.
Any England nerves were settled just after the re-start
when a poor clearance went straight to Cole just outside the
penalty area and he drilled a low shot past Taylor and into the
right-hand corner.
Lampard set up the second two minutes later, working a
one-two with Rooney and allowing the ball to run for Owen to
flick past a helpless Taylor.
The third was all down to Rooney after he brilliantly
surged past Tony Capaldi and Colin Murdock from a seemingly
impossible position by the right touchline and sent a low cross
that flew in off Baird.
Lampard added the fourth as his shot took a deflection off
the head of Murdock and sent Taylor the wrong way.
Lampard followed up a few minutes later with a drive against
the bar but England then eased off to cruise to a comfortable
victory.
"We played well in first half, we didn't score but had a lot
of possibilities," Eriksson told the BBC.
"We scored early in the second half and life became very
difficult for Northern Ireland.
"I was very pleased with the way we kept the ball, we were
in total control for 90 minutes and it was a very professional
performance."
Asked if Cole's performance could have settled England's
long-running problem on the left of midfield, Eriksson said:
"Yes, if he goes on like that, without any doubts at all.
"He was excellent today, I don't think he ever lost the ball
in a stupid way, which happened in his past.
"His talent is incredible, he beats people, he scores goals
but he defends well as well."
The Chelsea midfielder said: "It was nice to get the goal
but the main thing was that that I wanted to show the boss that
I could be disciplined and keep the shape and things like that.
"I'm not going to get carried away, it was a good
performance by the lads and I did alright but there is a game on
Wednesday and you know in football things can turn around in a
second."