By Stephen Bramley Last updated: 17th October 2007
Owen: Celebrates his opener
Michael Owen scored twice as England took a huge stride towards the Euro 2008 finals with a 3-0 win against Russia at Wembley.
Owen netted in the seventh and 31st minutes to become only the fourth player, after Jimmy Greaves, Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker to score 40 times for England.
Rio Ferdinand completed the rout six minutes from time leaving England in second spot in Group E two points clear of Russia ahead of next month's return meeting in Moscow.
The result completed a marvellous few days for England boss Steve McClaren men, who followed up Saturday's win over Israel with an even more emphatic display against Guus Hiddink's men.
Again Owen grabbed the limelight with his first half brace but Gareth Barry and
Emile Heskey again rewarded McClaren for the faith he placed in them with outstanding contributions on a great night at Wembley.
McClaren surprised no-one by sticking with same side which brushed aside Israel on Saturday.
England took a deserved lead after seven minutes when Owen neatly controlled Barry's right wing cross and coolly slotted home via the upright.
Heskey and Shaun Wright-Phillips had chances to extend the lead before Owen rifled home his second past Vaitcheslav Malafeev after Heskey's flick on.
In between Russia thought they had an equaliser when Konstantin Zyryanov turned and fired beyond Paul Robinson, but Swedish referee Martin Hansson disallowed the goal for handball when replays clearly showed the ball had come off the striker's chest.
Russia looked menacing after the break and Dmitry Sychev twice went close.
Robinson was also forced to turn away a 15 yard drive from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.
But England weathered the storm and Rio Ferdinand rubbed salt into the visitors' wounds late on when he added a third.
| England | Team Statistics | Russia |
| 3 | Goals | 0 |
| 2 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
| 7 | Shots on Target | 3 |
| 8 | Shots off Target | 5 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 3 |
| 4 | Corners | 3 |
| 12 | Fouls | 6 |
| 4 | Offsides | 1 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 75.3 | Passing Success | 80.1 |
| 24 | Tackles | 19 |
| 79.2 | Tackles Success | 84.2 |
| 47 | Possession | 53 |
| 55.9 | Territorial Advantage | 44.1 |

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Monday 9th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Liverpool vs Birmingham |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Liverpool vs Man City |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Burnley vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Wolverhampton |
| 15:00 | Hull vs West Ham |
| 15:00 | Sunderland vs Arsenal |
| 17:30 | Man Utd vs Everton |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Bolton vs Blackburn |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Wigan |
| 16:00 | Stoke vs Portsmouth |
| Wednesday 25th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Hull vs Everton |
| 20:00 | Fulham vs Blackburn |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Bolton |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Sunderland |
| 17:30 | Aston Villa vs Tottenham |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 1 - 0 Man Utd | |
| West Ham 1 - 2 Everton | |
| Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham | |
| Hull 2 - 1 Stoke | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wolverhampton 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| Man City 3 - 3 Burnley | |
| Tottenham 2 - 0 Sunderland | |
| Blackburn 3 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Aston Villa 5 - 1 Bolton | |
| Wednesday 4th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| West Ham 2 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Sunday 1st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 0 - 0 Man City | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 2 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Sunderland 2 - 2 West Ham | |
| Portsmouth 4 - 0 Wigan | |
| Bolton 0 - 4 Chelsea | |
| Stoke 2 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Fulham 3 - 1 Liverpool | |
| Burnley 2 - 0 Hull | |
| Everton 1 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham | |
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