England 5 San Marino 0: Hodgson satisfied with Wembley display

Roy Hodgson expressed his satisfaction at the result after his England side thrashed minnows San Marino to claim a dominant victory at Wembley.

Captain Rooney gave the hosts the lead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute after Danny Welbeck was brought down by Aldo Simoncini.

And Welbeck doubled England’s lead with a neat flick three minutes later to give Hodgson’s side a 2-0 advantage at the break.

England spent the majority of the game camped around the San Marino penalty area, and Rooney added a third with a low curling shot in the 69th minute.

Welbeck then grabbed his second of the night with a close range finish two minutes later, before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s instinctive effort added gloss to the scoreline at Wembley.

“It was attack versus defence,” Hodgson told ITV. “It’s never easy when 10 players are parked in the penalty area but I was very pleased with the way we kept playing our football.

“We played it from the first minute to the very last. They didn’t have one strike at goal, in fact the crowd were cheering every time the goalkeeper [Joe Hart] touched the ball – I think it was four times.

“It was a good result for us with Moldova drawing with Ukraine, so it’s been a very satisfying weeks’ work.”

Rooney, who captained the Three Lions in the absence of suspended Steven Gerrard and injured Frank Lampard, admitted Hodgson’s men could have netted a few more goals.

“We created some good chances and the keeper made some good saves, there was maybe a bit of poor finishing but it’s not that easy when they put 10 men behind the ball and defend,” said Rooney.

“It was difficult to break them down at times and we had to just try and keep the ball moving quickly, create chances and we managed to do that. Five goals is still not a bad result.”

Rooney’s first two goals of the season took the Manchester United striker to fifth on the list of England’s all-time goal scorers with 31, behind Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker, Jimmy Greaves and Michael Owen.

“Obviously it’s a great honour for me,” he said. “There are some great players there and to be in England’s top five goal scorers is something I’m extremely proud of. Hopefully there’s many more to come, I’m still only 26.”

The victory leaves England top of Group H on seven points ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Poland.

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