England beat Belarus 3-1 to chalk up their fourth straight win in their Group Six World Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday with two goals from Wayne Rooney and one from Steven Gerrard securing their victory.

Gerrard fired England ahead after 11 minutes with a superbly taken 30-metre shot before Belarus equalised 17 minutes later with Pavel Sitko providing the final header to round off a 23-pass move.

Rooney shot England back in front after 50 minutes following excellent work by his forward partner Emile Heskey and he added his second of the game 16 minutes from time. Gerrard had a good chance to score a fourth for England after 85 minutes, but hit a post with the goal gaping.

The victory represented new ground for England who had never previously won their opening four matches in any World Cup qualifying campaign dating back to 1949-50.

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