Welbeck bags brace against Moldova but will miss Ukraine

Danny Welbeck bagged two goals as England made light work of Moldova in Friday evening’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley, but a yellow card means he will miss Tuesday's clash against Ukraine. Fellow Red Devils Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young were unused substitutes for England.

Welbeck grabbed goals either side of half-time, building on earlier strikes from Steven Gerrard and Ricky Lambert, as England cruised to a comfortable win.

61,607, England’s lowest home crowd of the qualifying campaign, watched Welbeck latch onto a Lambert pass and despatch England’s third goal shortly before the interval, whilst another link-up with the Southampton forward sealed his brace five minutes after the break.

However, the Manchester United forward’s evening was soured somewhat by a first-half yellow card which rules him out of Tuesday’s qualifier in Ukraine. The result in Kiev could be pivotal to the qualification hopes of Roy Hodgson’s side.

Elsewhere in Group H, Ukraine secured an emphatic 9-0 win over San Marino, whilst Poland and Montenegro shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw in Warsaw.

The results leave unbeaten England top of the Group, level on points with Montenegro who have played a game more. Ukraine and Poland are one and five points behind England respectively.

Welbeck’s two goals take his England goal tally to eight from 18 caps – a goal to game ratio of 0.44, considerably more prolific than his goalscoring record to date at club level.