Manager Roy Hodgson will have welcomed this easy result considering England's disappointing 1-1 draw with Ukraine in their last qualifier and after a period of recent turmoil off the pitch. Former captain John Terry quit international duty last month after saying the FA had made his position “untenable” following a ruling against him for racial abusing Anton Ferdinand. And a few days later Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole further exacerbated matters after a tweet questioning the FA’s ruling and calling them “a bunch of twats.”

Cole was still picked by Hodgson, but was replaced in the starting line up by Leighton Baines, who has had a fantastic start to the season with Everton (Cole never made an appearance in the game). Captain Steven Gerard was suspended and vice-captain Frank Lampard was out with an injury so Rooney captained the side.

Although the game didn’t start as inauspiciously as it had twenty years ago when these sides last met (San Marino scored the fastest ever international goal after just 8.3 seconds before England went on to win 7-1) it still wasn’t the ideal opening. Theo Walcott clashed with San Marino keeper Aldo Simoncini after only four minutes. It was a poor challenge from Simoncini who, coming into this game, had conceded 114 international goals in 24 games. The Arsenal winger was on the ground for three minutes before limping off to be subbed for Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon.

England dominated possession in the first half and their opponents, who are ranked 207th in the world, hardly touched the ball. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had the best of the early chances, forcing Simoncini to make a couple of decent saves and Rooney headed just wide of the post. With 30 minutes gone Michael Carrick shot from 35 yards and hit the crossbar. Welbeck then found himself off balance and could only hit the post with his follow up.

It then seemed like it was just a matter of time before England scored and Welbeck was involved just a minute later when he was dragged down by Simoncini in the box. Rooney scored the resulting penalty, his first goal for club and country this season, and some of the pressure was relieved for England. It was his 30th goal for England, making him joint 5th top scorer of all time for his country.

Welbeck then made it two a few minutes later when Aaron Lennon crossed into the Manchester United striker, who tidily back-heeled the ball into the back of the net. However even though England had a few more shots on target, the first half finished at just 2-0, a disappointing score considering the poor quality of the away team.

In the second half San Marino continued to sit all 11 men behind the ball and England were sloppy in trying to find their way through. Touches were heavy, passing was inaccurate and the overall quality of the finishing was poor. Gary Cahill, Rooney and Welbeck all had chances but nothing convincing.

In the 70th minute Rooney got his second goal and England’s third. Substitute Jonjo Shelvey made a lovely diagonal pass across the pitch that was headed towards Rooney by Baines. Rooney shot cleanly from outside the box, which opened the floodgates for the home side.

Two minutes after Rooney’s goal, Welbeck also got his second. Cleverly found himself in space on the edge of the box and linked up with his Manchester United teammate to make it four. Oxlade-Chamberlain was then next to score after some good interplay within San Marino’s box, all created by Baines who had been one of England’s best players of the night.

It was an efficient, if somewhat unspectacular performance from England and they will be worked much harder when they visit Poland for their next World Cup qualifier next week.

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