Michael Owen struck twice as England took a huge step towards qualification for Euro 2008 with a 3-0 win over Russia Wednesday.
The win lifted England above Russia into second place in Group E, behind only Croatia, with the top two to qualify.
England must still travel to Moscow next month, but that trip will hold less fear after Guus Hiddink's side demonstrated an unexpected defensive frailty at Wembley.
Russia had conceded just one goal in their eight qualifiers before Wednesday, but they struggled to cope with the height and physique of Emile Heskey.
Buoyed by Saturday's excellent 3-0 victory over Israel, England began the better and took a seventh-minute lead.
Konstantin Zyryanov and Alexander Anyukov were both drawn to John Terry as Gareth Barry crossed from the right, leaving Owen free to sidefoot home off the inside of a post.
The Newcastle forward added his second - his fortieth for his country - after 31 minutes, lashing in after Heskey had flicked on a long Rio Ferdinand pass.
Russia, who beat Macedonia 3-0 on Saturday, did pose an attacking threat, and Zyryanov was unfortunate to have a goal ruled out after 19 minutes when he was adjudged to have handled before turning in after Dmitry Sychev's effort had been blocked.
They enjoyed a brief flurry at the start of the second half too, Sychev flashing an effort just wide and then missing Yury Zhirkov's low cross by a fraction, but soon faded.
Ferdinand completed the best result of Steve McClaren's reign with six minutes to go, his low shot from Owen's pass creeping under the body of Russia goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev. dpa jmw adh
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