MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Two second-half goals by striker Roman Pavlyuchenko were enough to send England packing in the Euro 2008 qualifying match at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on Wednesday evening.
Wayne Rooney was both hero and villain as he powered home a shot in the 29th minute to edge England 1-0 in front, while clumsily bringing down Konstantin Zyryanov to give Russia a penalty in the 69th. It was substitute Pavlyuchenko, who stepped up to convert the penalty and within four minutes he hit England again as he sent another goal past England's keeper Paul Robinson to put Russia 2-1 up.
England needed a win in group E to guarantee a place in the Euro 2008 finals, but will now have a nervous wait to see if they can scrape through. Russia only need to win against Israel on November 17 and Andorra on the 21st to book their place in next year's finals.
