England 4 - 0 Slovakia

England 4-0 Slovakia: Rooney brace, trio injured

Updated: March 28, 2009, 5:42 PM UK

Wayne Rooney scored twice to share top billing with record breaker David Beckham as England convincingly swept Slovakia aside at Wembley today.

Rooney capped an outstanding performance with his second-half brace, the first coming with a header from a Beckham cross, the perfect way for the veteran midfielder to celebrate his 109th cap.

And, apart from a possible striker shortage, it was part of a fine day for Fabio Capello's team, who really will be in the mood to party if they manage a repeat performance in Wednesday's key World Cup qualifier with the Ukraine.

It is only relatively late in his career that Emile Heskey's worth has truly been appreciated.

Michael Owen was happy to extol the virtues of a former Liverpool team-mate given a large number of his 40 England goals were scored when the pair were in the same side.

Now it is Rooney's turn to profit from Heskey's selfless industry, the battering ram who blasts open doors for the craftsman. The priceless striker who does not score.

Prior to this evening, Heskey had found the net just five times in an international career boasting 51 caps, dating back to 1999.

But as the debate, of which Fabio Capello played no part, about how to get the best from Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard raged on this week, Heskey's presence to face Slovakia was always assured.

And his reward for the perseverance that now makes him such a pivotal figure in Capello's blueprint for South Africa 2010 came after just eight minutes when Rooney slipped the first of a series of excellent passes to Gerrard.

Resplendent in a new white shirt, nicely designed but at odds with the mud-heap on which he must perform, the Liverpool skipper, roaming inside at will from his left-side station, evaded capture with a magnificent drag back before drilling a low cross to the near post.

Martin Skrtel appeared to have the situation under control. Heskey though had sneaked up on his blind side and prodded home his first England goal in almost six years.

Two minutes later it was Rooney delivering the killer ball, a cross right onto the unmarked Heskey's head. To the Aston Villa forward's total disbelief, a feeling shared by a large but not quite capacity crowd, the ball sailed over after he made contact from about four yards.

It was one of those head-scratching moments Heskey has produced so many of down the years.

Nevertheless, it was sad that he lasted barely five more minutes before he was replaced by Carlton Cole, presumably to protect an Achilles injury he had aggravated.

That Cole lasted only 21 minutes on his second appearance and his replacement, Peter Crouch, limped off 17 minutes from the end, was tough luck on them both, raising the spectre of a call for Kevin Davies, Darren Bent or Andrew Johnson for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier with the Ukraine, should respective groin and hip injuries fail to clear up.

But it was the half-time arrival of Beckham for his record 109th cap that really got the fans excited.

When Steve McClaren was dealing with the conundrum of pairing Gerrard with Frank Lampard in midfield, the feeling was always of a man trying to shoehorn his best players into one team without really knowing how it was going to work.

No such feeling exists about the man now in charge.

As Rooney and Gerrard have already proved, they can easily interchange from starting positions that have the Manchester United man providing the closest support to a line leader and Gerrard, who cannot have the role he has done so well with for his club, driving at opposition defences from slightly wider or at an angle.

Had Heskey's finishing, Aaron Lennon's crossing or Frank Lampard's set piece delivery been better, England would have been out of sight before Slovakia had their first decent shot.

As it was Miroslav Karhan and Robert Vittek both tested David James either side of an unconvincing double save from Stefan Senecky that denied first Lennon, then Gerrard.

Lennon did well enough on his first England appearance for two years but, like Shaun Wright-Phillips and, to an extent, Theo Walcott, his final ball remains patchy and cannot be relied upon.

In contrast Beckham's crosses and free-kicks remain top drawer.

Had an offside John Terry not finished off a Peter Crouch header that was going in anyway, Beckham would have supplied England's second 10 minutes before it actually arrived through a header for Rooney.

England's third arrived when Michael Carrick supplied the pass for Frank Lampard to finish.

And Rooney had the last word, with a delightful chip, to round off a very satisfying evening.