Wayne Rooney scored two first-half goals as England cruised to a 3-0 victory over Bulgaria to extend its lead in Euro 2012 qualifying Friday.
Defender Gary Cahill grabbed his first goal for England in the 13th minute, beating goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov as he toppled to the ground.
Rooney twice punished Bulgaria's casual defending. He beat his marker to head in a corner from Stewart Downing in the 21st minute, and then tapped in a ball on the break just before half time.
England leads Group G with 14 points from six games, pulling ahead of Montenegro which stayed on 11 points after losing 2-1 in Wales. Bulgaria, coached by former German great Lothar Matthaeus, has five points.
England's Football Association reported to UEFA that racist abuse was directed at England midfielder Ashley Young by a section of home fans.
Matthaeus said he was not “well informed” about the incident. But he added: “It is very regrettable for such things to happen. I would like to apologize on behalf of the Bulgarian Football Federation.”
It was the only sour note of the night for England, which followed up its 4-0 home win over Bulgaria in its opening Group G match with another comfortable victory.
Coach Fabio Capello picked Tottenham's Scott Parker and Manchester City's Gareth Barry in central midfield, meaning Frank Lampard was left out of a competitive match for England for the first time since 2007. He played for the last 10 minutes, coming on for Barry.
Capello said he used “the best players at this moment,” and said he was delighted with the result that leaves England needing three points to qualify from two games — at home against Wales next week before travelling to Montenegro.
“We're really happy because (Rooney) scored. We're really happy with the performance of the team. Tonight the players were very focussed at every moment,” Capello said.
“Bulgaria had lots of chances in their game against Switzerland but tonight they had only one.”
Rooney increased his England goal tally to 28, and said a knock on his foot during Friday's game would not stop him playing against Wales next week.
“We've got one foot into the finals. If we win on Tuesday we will more or less have qualified and we are capable of doing that,” he said. “This was a good performance from the whole team and we fully deserved the three points.”
Matthaeus fielded five defenders, but his side still struggled at the back. Spells of pressure, and boisterous fans at Vasil Levski stadium, failed to help Bulagria score a qualifying goal at home at the third attempt.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart blocked a close-range header from Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov 10 minutes into the second half — Bulgaria's only clear chance.
Downing answered for England a minute later, heading down a skilful cross from Theo Walcott, but the ball struck the far post with Mihaylov again beaten.
Matthaeus said England had simply outclassed his players.
“The win was fair ... We made very obvious mistakes and handed them as a gift to our opponents,” Matthaeus said. “The difference in quality between the players was very clear. In all areas of the game, the English were a class above us.
“That's the difference between us and the great football nations.”
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