EURO '08 Qualifiers: Owen lifts Three Lions over Russia

Soccer Betting Lines

09/13/2007 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England put together its best match under Steve McClaren on Wednesday as Michael Owen scored twice to lead the Three Lions to a 3-0 win over Russia at Wembley Stadium in EURO '08 qualifying.

Owen tallied goals in the seventh and 31st minute, giving him 40 goals for his England career. Rio Ferdinand then added an insurance marker in the 84th for his first international goal since 2002.

The win propels England into second place in Group E, after they started Saturday's contest against Israel in fourth. England is now a good bet to secure qualification, and they can all but assure it with another win against the Russians next month.

The hosts had a dream start as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead after seven minutes. Gareth Barry provided the cross and Owen was left open at the back post. He settled the ball with one touch and then fired past the keeper with an easy finish.

After Russia had a goal taken away because of a questionable call, England took advantage and added another goal on an innocent looking play. Ferdinand played a long ball out of the back, but striker Emile Heskey did well to beat a pair of defenders to the ball and head it into Owen's path. The Newcastle striker once again finished with precision, driving the ball first time past the keeper.

The visitors tried to get back into the match after halftime, and although Dmitry Sychev came close on a few occasions to getting Russia on the board, the day belonged to England.

Ferdinand capped off the impressive performance by knocking home England's third goal, much to the delight of the Wembley faithful.

McClaren has come under some heavy scrutiny over this qualifying campaign, but the end is in sight for an England team that seems to be coming together at the right time. Despite injuries to David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard, less heralded players like Barry and Heskey have stepped up, and Shaun Wright-Phillips has shown that he certainly belongs in the starting 11 with his quality play over the past couple of games.

The return to form of Owen has been the biggest difference for an England team that struggled to find goals earlier in qualification. If this team can continue its current form, they will be a handful not only for the rest of their group, but also for the rest of Europe.

Group E's other contests on Wednesday featured Croatia holding onto its top spot with an easy 6-0 win over Andorra and Macedonia playing to a 1-1 draw with Estonia.

The top two teams in Group A, Poland and Finland, finished 0-0, Kazakhstan rallied to tie Belgium 2-2 and Portugal allowed Serbia to draw level in the second half of their 1-1 draw.

Scotland surprisingly moved to the top of Group B with a hard-fought 1-0 win over France, while Italy moved into second place with a 2-1 triumph over Ukraine. Lithuania got the best of the Faroe Islands 2-1 in the group's other encounter.

Bosnia-Herzegovina suffered a damaging defeat to lowly Moldova in 1-0 fashion in Group C. Norway and Greece played to a 2-2 draw in their top-of-the-table clash, while Turkey joined Norway in second place with a 3-0 win over Hungary.

The Czech Republic secured a big 1-0 win over Ireland to put six points between themselves and the Irish for the final qualifying spot from Group D. Wales downed Slovakia 5-2 in an entertaining affair, while Cyprus beat a hopeless San Marino side 3-0.

In Group F, Northern Ireland dropped more points with a costly 2-1 loss to Iceland, leaving Northern Ireland three points behind the top two clubs, Spain and Sweden. Spain moved up and into the second spot with a 2-0 win over Latvia on Wednesday. Denmark kept its hopes of qualification alive with a 4-0 win over last-place Liechtenstein, but the Danes are still five points adrift.

The Netherlands got a goal in the final minute to slip past Albania 1-0 and move into a first-place tie with Romania, who did not play on Wednesday. Bulgaria stayed two points back of the leaders by defeating Luxembourg 3-0 and Slovenia got the better of Belarus 1-0.