England scored a comfortable 3-0 win over Israel to improve their position in Group E in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Shaun Wright-Phillips scored the only goal of the first half during which Steve McClaren’s side missed a few chances.

Michael Owen and Micah Richards found the target in the second half to close out an important victory for the home side.

On the other hand, tonight's result is likely to dent Israel's chances of qualifying for next summer's final in Austria and Switzerland.

England now have 17 points from eight games while Israel stay on equal number of points but have played one game more. Russia lead the group with 18 points from eight games but Croatia, who have 17 points from seven games, are in action against second-from-bottom Estonia tonight.

England will now meet Russia on Wednesday in what would be McClaren’s 14th game in charge.

After initial probing, the first chance for England fell to Emile Heskey in the 10th minute with strike partner Owen setting him up in the Israel box. The powerful Wigan Athletic striker however blasted the ball over the goal.

Israel were totally defensive from the start but Liverpool winger Yossi Benayoun orchestrated a few moves into the rival half.

Steven Gerrard was tackled in a cynical way by Shimon Gershon in the 15th minute resulting in a free-kick, which was however cleared to safety. On the ensuing corner, Heskey saw his header going wide of the mark.

Wright-Phillips opened the scoring in the 20th minute when he took the chance with a superb finish from the six-yard box, meeting first-time the cross supplied by fellow Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole from left.

Following the goal, Israel opened up a bit and had a brief spell of possession but they were lacking in ideas coming into the final one-third of the pitch.

Wright-Phillips earned a free-kick in a promising position on right side but Gareth Barry’s teasing delivery was well collected by Dudu Aouate.

A good opportunity for the home side went begging in the 35th minute as Joe Cole saw his cross go across the face of the goal with Owen and Heskey not coming close to meet the ball.

Newcastle striker Owen saw his close range shot blocked by Aouate but could not keep the rebound on target, from a tight angle in the 38th minute after Joe Cole had done well to set up the chance.

Ashley Cole’s low shot was parried away by Aouate after Barry had supplied a perfect through ball to set up the opportunity for Owen, who passed the ball to the attacking Chelsea left-back in the 41st minute.

England started the second half with a bang as Owen scored a cracking goal after a wonderful first touch to control a pass from Barry, set up a volley and the Toon striker swivelled and let go a screamer that saw Aouate having no chance to stop the shot in the 49th minute.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid player thus took his England goal tally to 38.

Aouate stopped England from going up 3-0 in the 64th minute as he blocked a low shot from Joe Cole after Gerrard had slipped in a lovely ball for the left winger.

But Aouate could do nothing couple of minutes later when Manchester City right-back Richards leaping high, headed the ball home off a corner-kick from right by Barry.

Owen could have taken his tally to two goals for the night but a fantastic intervention from Ziv denied him after substitute Andy Johnson had set him on his way in the 88th minute.

Blackburn midfielder David Bentley made his senior debut for the Three Lions, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute for Shaun-Wright Phillips.

Teams:

England: Robinson, Cole, Terry, Ferdinand, Richards, J Cole, Barry, Gerrard (Phil Neville 71), Wright-Phillips (Bentley 83), Owen, Heskey (Johnson 71).

Substitutes not used: James, Brown, Downing, Defoe.

Israel: Aouate, Ben-Haim, Benado (Golan 58), Gershon, Spungin, Ziv, Badir, Benayoun, Tal, Itzhaki (Tamuz 46), Katan (Zandberg 74).

Substitutes not used: Davidovitch, Antebi, Alberman, Balili.