England blushes spared by Gerrard

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TEL AVIV, Israel -- Steven Gerrard scored twice to spare England's blushes as they stuttered to a 3-0 win over Andorra in a Euro 2008 qualifier that will turn up the pressure on beleaguered coach Steve McClaren.

Booed at halftime and the final whistle, England got the breakthrough with Gerrard's 54th minute opener against a side ranked 163rd in the world, and the midfielder coolly added his second in the 76th minute.

Substitute David Nugent, the first Preston North End player to appear for England since Tom Finney last played in 1958, celebrated his debut by tapping in the third in the 89th minute.

Having beaten Andorra 5-0 at Old Trafford in September, England had been hoping for another convincing win after Saturday's 0-0 Group E draw in Israel had prompted calls from the British media for McClaren to be sacked.

Croatia are top of the group with 13 points, while Russia, Israel and England are all level on 11points.

The result, on a cold and rainy night, was enough to keep England's hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals alive.

But it did not completely satisfy England's frustrated fans, who continued to shout for coach McClaren to be sacked and regularly booed the performance at Barcelona's Olympic stadium where the match was played because Andorra did not have a ground large enough to host it.

England were without Frank Lampard because of a fractured wrist and fielded Gerrard in his more favored central midfield role as a result.

He responded with a dynamic performance on what at times was a frustrating night for his side, who were roundly booed at half-time when they went in level at 0-0.

It took England's frustrated fans only 15 minutes to become restless and McClaren was clearly the object of their anger as he had been after the 0-0 draw with Israel in Tel AViv on Saturday.

But the chanting only succeeded in making life more difficult for the players they were they to support, creating an atmosphere of nervousness and tension.

Even so, England were guilty of choking in possession too often against an Andorra side who were robust in their approach and defended gallantly in numbers.

Center-half Oscar Sonajee, in particular, was impressive as he kept Wayne Rooney and Andy Johnson at bay in the first half, during which England were restricted to only two shots on target.

The first came from long distance from Gerrard after 18 minutes and was deflected one-handed by goalkeeper Koldo.

The second, after 39 minutes, was created impressively on the turn by Johnson, but again Koldo was equal to it.

Fortunately for McClaren, Gerrard's tenacious approach eventually paid off when Rooney laid back a ball for him to hit sweetly on the volley after 54 minutes.

The goal eased the pressure and Gerrard made it 2-0 with he swapped passes with substitute Defoe and finished cleverly after 76 minutes.

The scoreline then became more realistic in the final minute when Defoe's effort squirmed under the goalkeeper's arm and Nugent pounced to force the ball over.

Israel thrash Estonia

Israel thrashed Estonia 4-0 on Wednesday to keep their Euro 2008 qualification hopes alive as substitute Ben Sahar of Chelsea scored twice in the closing minutes of their Group E clash.

Israel dominated from the outset and goalkeeper Dudu Aouate was hardly troubled by the Estonians. They had some more possession in the second half but only once came close to scoring.

Bolton Wanderers' Idan Tal and Roberto Colautti of Maccabi Haifa who both served a one-match suspension and missed Saturday 0-0 draw with England, celebrated their return to the starting lineup with the goals which set Israel on course for victory.

Tal scored the first after 20 minutes when he drilled a powerful low shot from the edge of the area right in front of goal leaving outstretched Estonian goalkeeper Mart Poom with no chance as he dived to his left.

Argentine-born Colautti added the second goal when he rose high to head in at the far post from a good cross from by right-back Amit Ben Shushan.

Chelsea teenager Sahar, 17, who came on in the 64th minute as a substitute for Toto Tamuz, made it 3-0 in the 77th minute when he pounced forward to tip the ball with his toe and lob the ball over Poom.

Three minutes later he added another with a curling shot from the edge of the area.

Estonia's only chance came in the 71st minute when substitute Tarmo Kink was left unmarked and headed the ball at the far post only to be denied by Aouate who tipped the ball away for a corner.

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