David Beckham celebrated his return to Old Trafford with one of his finest goals in an England shirt as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side imperiously brushed Wales aside with a composed 2-0 win in Manchester on Saturday.
After going ahead through Frank Lampard inside four minutes, England never gave the slightest indication of losing control of the first meeting between the two neighbours in 20 years.
It was not, however, until Beckham added a second a quarter of an hour before the end that a hopelessly outclassed Wales side were finally killed off in thrilling fashion.
Picking up a loose ball in the inside-left channel, 35 yards from goal, Beckham struck a curling, dipping shot over Paul Jones and into the top far corner of the net.
Wales, already without first-choice centreback Robert Page, were forced into further defensive restructuring when Andy Melville injured himself in the warm-up.
Jason Koumas came into midfield, Simon Davies was pushed back to right back and Mark Delaney was switched from there to the berth vacated by Melville.
It all looked distinctly rickety and it took England little time to find a crack.
Rio Ferdinand’s pass found Owen inside the box with his back to goal and the time to lay the ball back for Lampard to fire in a crisp low shot from the edge of the area.
The ball was headed straight at Paul Jones before it struck Owen’s heel and was deflected out of the Welsh goalkeeper’s reach, although the goal was officially recorded as Lampard’s sixth in his past nine internationals.
Wayne Rooney almost made it two seven minutes later after leaving his minder, Mark Pembridge, for dead with a deft turn and exhilarating burst of acceleration.
The 18-year-old advanced to within 25 yards of goal before striking a drive that was fizzing towards the bottom corner before the slightest of touches from the glove of Jones diverted it on to the post.
Jermain Defoe then managed to get round his marker Danny Gabbidon but pulled his shot wide of the target, and Owen saw an effort blocked by Jones’s legs after another defence-splitting run from Rooney.
It was indicative of the stranglehold England had established on the match that 25 minutes had elapsed before the Welsh contingent in the 65 224-strong crowd was able to cheer an attempt at goal.
Gary Speed’s optimistic attempt to catch Paul Robinson off his line with a volley flew over the bar and it was not until just before the break, when Speed headed a Giggs free-kick straight to the England goalkeeper, that Wales actually hit the target for the first time.
England might have put the outcome beyond doubt just before the hour mark, when Rooney skipped round Simon Davies on the left of the Welsh box and closed in on goal.
With both Owen and Defoe in threatening positions, a well-judged pass would surely have yielded a second goal but Rooney opted instead to try to blast the ball past Jones from an acute angle, allowing the goalkeeper to block.
That could have proved a costly error of judgement had Craig Bellamy been able to capitalise when the ball ricocheted off teammate Jason Koumas on the edge of the box to put him beyond the England back four.
The Newcastle striker might have had time to bring the ball down but opted for a first-time volley that spun off the outside of his boot and wide of the target.
Beckham’s spectacular strike finally removed any lingering tension from the match and England could easily have added to their score in the closing stages.
Rooney had two efforts blocked in quick succession and it took a superb save from Jones to keep out Owen’s header from substitute Alan Smith’s neat cross.
But the final minutes of the match also saw what should have been a highly satisfactory afternoon for Beckham and his teammates marred when the England skipper was booked for a reckless tackle on Ben Thatcher.
The inevitable booking means the England skipper will be suspended for Wednesday’s meeting with Azerbaijan. — Sapa-AFP