Roaring 40 for Owen ... and England sparkle again

England's Euro 2008 qualifying fate is back in their own hands after Owen scored twice in the first half, taking his goals total to 40 in 85 caps. Rio Ferdinand finished off Guus Hiddink's side with a drilled effort six minutes from time.

Coach Steve McClaren and his men lie second in Group E and if they can beat Estonia at Wembley on October 13 and avoid defeat in Russia four days later, they will need just a point against Croatia in their final game to secure their place in next summer's finals.

Owen, now with 14 goals in as many starts alongside the recalled Emile Heskey, said: "We know we have the quality, but all too often we haven't shown it.

"We've seen some games when we have blown teams away in the first half an hour, like we have in the past two games. It's not often you get to enjoy an England game and take your foot off the gas, but that's what we have done in the last few matches.

"I've scored a couple and enjoyed being part of a great England team."

Victory over Hiddink's emerging side represented a huge tactical triumph for McClaren, who appears to have stumbled on a successful starting line-up.

Owen, Heskey and Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry were again the pick of an impressive England performance and they go to Moscow next month flushed with confidence.

McClaren said: "Never write Michael off — I said that weeks ago and I knew he was going to be important for us. He has scored in his past four games. He's a very good player at this moment and his partnership with Emile has worked well.

"Gareth Barry is another who has contributed and his partnership (with Steven Gerrard), along with Heskey and Owen, was the key."

McClaren has turned England's qualification hopes around in the space of five days and he revealed that the manner of their 3-0 win was the most satisfying of his spell in charge.

Russia had not been beaten in the qualifiers before they were destroyed by rampant England and McClaren's side are now favourites to advance to Austria and Switzerland.

The England coach added: "This job is all about satisfaction. We wanted six points, we said that at the beginning of last week and I'm greatly satisfied by the performances.

"We will celebrate a good win, but we know we have another three games to go. We can still get better. We had another good start and that was important because we had spells in the game where we weren't dominant. At times we started to lose our grip.

"We will reflect on things, but we've got to enjoy it and keep our feet on the ground. We set the marker with that performance. Now we have to maintain it."

Hiddink was out-thought tactically by McClaren, but the Dutchman claimed England's superior finishing was the only difference between the two teams.

The Russia coach, who maintains that he can still pip England to the post and qualify for next summer's finals, said: "This has been a good lesson for us in being effective. We played well until we got near their area, but we didn't have enough to frighten England in the end.

"They are now ahead, but the decision is not made over who will qualify. We have England in Moscow next month and they still have to play Croatia.

"It's tight, but it will only be decided at the end.

"If we had been outplayed by England and we hadn't shown the intention to create chances, there would be a problem.

"In that sense, I remain positive."