The Three Lions were not at full strength, and had a few injury problems with Chamberlain, Jones, Rooney, Sturridge and Johnson all out of action due to injuries during club matches and training, while Southampton striker Rickie Lambert and Manchester United's young forward Danny Welbeck were both given opportunities to impress in attack.
Moldova are not technically a side that will be providing much trouble for most international countries, including England who are desperate to win the World Cup in the next ten years. They were sloppy and poor at the back throughout, and were trying to defend against counter attacks but couldn't handle the pace and dribbling of Wilshere, Walker and Walcott so ended up hacking them dangerously instead.
You could tell that the score would be a rout from the start, with Lambert and Walcott combining well just outside the box but no chances were clinically taken until captain and Liverpool legendary midfielder Steven Gerrard scored a thumping drive in the 12th minute after a nice assist from Lampard who laid the ball off to the Liverpool man who struck the ball low and powerfully into the bottom corner of the net out of reach for the Moldova goalkeeper.
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| Power: Gerrard celebrates his thumping strike to begin the rout for England after 12 minutes. |
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| Hit first time: Gerrard smashed the ball into the bottom corner of the net to break the deadlock |
Rickie Lambert utilised his quick goalscoring abilities to score on his full England debut in the 26th minute after Moldova failed to defend and clear away a break by Walcott, whose strike was parried away by the goalkeeper - straight to the head of Lambert who moved forward and tapped the ball in to make it 2-0.
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| Strikers' instinct: Lambert pounced on the rebound and scored a header to double England's lead. |
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| Impressive: Lambert celebrates his 2nd goal for England on his full senior international debut |
Danny Welbeck was involved in a controversy just before half-time, after a cross was shot by him just as the referee blew his whistle for an offside call. The Manchester United youngster did not hear the whistle blow, whereas the referee felt he did and he just ignored him so issued a yellow card which meant Welbeck was banned and unable to play Tuesday's crunch match against Ukraine.
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| Controversy: Welbeck talks to the referee and his officials after the game in frustration. |
This was despite his claims he did not hear the whistle - harsh but Welbeck shows his frustrations by going on to score a few seconds later after a counter attacking move with Lambert whipping a swinging ball towards him before he accelerated past the goalkeeper to tap the ball into the net to make it 3-0 just before half-time and prove how much he will truly be missed for England in attack next week.
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| Pace over power: Danny Welbeck speeds past the Moldova defence to make it 3-0 before HT. |
Welbeck made it 4-0 just after half-time (50th minute) with a cheeky chip over the goalkeeper after a quick England counter attack to complete his double and end the game.
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| Welbeck makes it 4-0 to England in the 50th minute with a cheeky chip over the goalkeeper. |
Everton youngster and startlet midfielder Ross Barkley was among the substitutes who came off the bench for England and impressed during the latter stages of the game, but the game finished 4-0 with The Three Lions comfortable throughout.
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| Wonderkid: Everton young midfielder Ross Barkley came on as a substitute against Moldova. |
As you can probably tell, this week is the international break for all clubs including the EPL and European matches are on hold until next week Friday (and Saturday), so I will be back next week for another analysis + review of England's crunch match against Ukraine as well as match reports from other games in Europe.
Thank you as always for reading everyone, I will speak to you all next week :)
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