Wayne Rooney struck with a 74th-minute free kick to give England a 1-0 win over 10-man Estonia in a Euro 2016 Group E qualifier yesterday and move to within six goals of Bobby Charlton’s record tally of 49.

Rooney curled home his set-piece from the edge of the area after Raheem Sterling was fouled and although goalkeeper Sergei Parelko got his hands to the ball it went in off the post.

The England skipper, playing his 99th international, has now scored 43 times for his country, one behind Jimmy Greaves who is third on the all-time list.

Estonia were reduced to 10 men for the second successive qualifier when their captain Ragnar Klavan was sent off for a second yellow card after 49 minutes for fouling Fabian Delph, leaving them with an even tougher task.

However, they managed to frustrate England for long periods before the visitors scored to maintain their perfect start to the campaign with a third successive win.

Rooney could easily have moved past Greaves’s record and gone closer to Gary Lineker’s 48 goal-haul as well as Charlton’s record tally, but missed two good chances in the first half, and one in stoppage time when he shot straight at Parelko.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but it was a good win,” Rooney told ITV Sport.

“The pleasing thing tonight is that we have a young team and we hung in there and saw the game out well.”

Diego Costa ended his long international scoring drought with the third goal in an uninspiring 4-0 win for Spain away to minnows Luxembourg in Group C.

Brazil-born Costa had failed to find the net for his adopted country in six previous appearances but broke a duck lasting more than 500 minutes when he netted from close range in the 69th minute in a rain-lashed Luxembourg City.

David Silva opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a fine long-range strike and set up Paco Alcacer to make it 2-0 three minutes before halftime. Substitute Juan Bernat added the fourth two minute from the end.

The European champions hardly dispelled doubts about their form following Thursday's surprise 2-1 loss in Slovakia but the win put them back on track to qualify from a pool that also includes Ukraine, Belarus and Macedonia.

Russia held

Fabio Capello’s 100 per cent record in home qualifying matches as Russia’s manager came to an end in Moscow as his side were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Group G outsiders Moldova.

After six previous triumphs on home soil stretching back two years, Capello’s men looked on course for victory number seven as their dominance was rewarded with Artem Dzyuba’s 73rd minute penalty, which he both earned and converted.

Yet only a minute later, Moldova equalised with captain Alexandru Epureanu heading home from Alexandru Dedov’s corner, leaving the visitors to treat escaping with a draw as if it were a victory.

“We knew Moldova wouldn’t be an easy rival and they always defend with big effort,” said Capello.

“The visitors were working 10 together in defence and successfully running back to counter-attacks. Unfortunately, we lost two points.”

Results

Group A (today)
Kazakhstan vs Czech Rep. - 18.00
Iceland vs Netherlands - 20.45
Latvia vs Turkey - 20.45

Group B (today)
Andorra vs Israel - 20.45
Bosnia vs Belgium - 20.45
Wales vs Cyprus - 20.45

Group C

Ukraine 1
Sydorchuk 45;
Macedonia 0

Missed penalty: Yarmolenko (U) 47.

Belarus 1
Kalachyov 79;
Slovakia 3
Hamsik 65, 84; Sestak 90;

Luxembourg 0
Spain 4
Silva 26; Alcacer 42; Costa 69; Bernat 88;

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Slovakia	3	3	0	0	6	2	9
Spain	3	2	0	1	10	3	6
Ukraine	3	2	0	1	3	1	6
Macedonia	3	1	0	2	4	8	3
Belarus	3	0	1	2	2	6	1
Luxembourg	3	0	1	2	3	8	1

Group D (tomorrow)
Germany vs Ireland - 20.45
Poland vs Scotland - 20.45
Gibraltar vs Georgia - 20.45

Group E

Estonia 0
England 1
Rooney 73;

Red card: Klavan (Est) 48.

Lithuania 0
Slovenia 2
Novakovic 33, 37;

Playing tomorrow:
San Marino vs Switzerland - 20.45

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
England	3	3	0	0	8	0	9
Slovenia	3	2	0	1	3	1	6
Lithuania	3	2	0	1	3	2	6
Estonia	3	1	0	1	1	2	3
Switzerland	2	0	0	2	0	3	0
San Marino	2	0	0	2	0	7	0

Group F (tomorrow)
Faroe Islands vs Hungary - 20.45
Finland vs Romania - 20.45
Greece vs Northern Ireland - 20.45

Group G

Austria 1
Okotie 24;
Montenegro 0

Russia 1
Dzyuba 73 pen.;
Moldova 1
Epureanu 74;

Sweden 2
Zengin 34; Durmaz 46;
Liechtenstein 0

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Austria	3	2	1	0	4	2	7
Russia	3	1	2	0	6	2	5
Sweden	3	1	2	0	4	2	5
Montenegro	3	1	1	1	2	1	4
Moldova	3	0	1	2	2	5	1
Liechtenstein	3	0	1	2	0	6	1

Group H (today)
Croatia vs Azerbaijan - 20.45
Malta vs Italy - 20.45
Norway vs Bulgaria - 20.45

Group I (tomorrow)
Denmark vs Portugal - 20.45
Serbia vs Albania - 20.45