Steven Gerrard set England on the way to a comfortable 4-0 rout over Moldova on Friday night when he arrowed a beauty to net the game's opening goal at Wembley.

The Three Lions skipper took matters into his own hands after just 11 minutes of play to rifle a swerving, low shot into the bottom corner of Stanislav Namasco's net.

Goals from Rickie Lambert and two from Danny Welbeck sealed the win for Roy Hodgson's side ahead of their crucial qualifier against Ukraine next Tuesday.

Gerrard calmed the nerves in the capital on Friday early on by collecting Frank Lampard's lay-off and directing the ball beyond the 'keeper for 1-0.

Kirkby-born Lambert doubled the lead on 26 minutes when he pounced to nod home after Namasco parried Theo Walcott's strike.

On the cusp of half-time, Welbeck was shown a yellow card, which will rule him out of Tuesday's game against Ukraine, but the Manchester United striker atoned by outpacing a defender, rounding the 'keeper and tapping home England's third.

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On 50 minutes, Welbeck grabbed his second with a delicate dink over Namasco after Lambert fed him with a precise pass to put the game beyond the visitors.

Elsewhere, Martin Skrtel's Slovakia kept their qualification hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Daniel Agger played the full game as Denmark won 2-1 away to Malta at the Ta'Qali stadium and Simon Mignolet was an unused substitute as Belgium beat Scotland 2-0 at Hampden Park.