England got off to a cracking start of their Euro 2012 qualifiers, with a 4-0 win against Bulgaria.

Wayne Rooney started things off sending a pass to Ashley Cole, whose shot was rebounded. However Jermain Defoe was on hand to smash the ball into the Bulgarian net after less than three minutes of play.

Following the goal England dominated for much of the half and kept the ball in the Bulgarian half for much of play.

However Bulgaria very nearly equalised after Glen Johnson comes close to scoring an own goal, thankfully to be denied by Joe Hart.

James Milner and Defoe made further attempts on goal, to no avail. Theo Walcott and Gerrard however came very close getting right into the Bulgarian area before being denied by the keeper.

At half time England led Bulgaria 1-0.

When play resumed Bulgaria attempted to pull one back with Valeri Bokinov smashing a ball across the England goal.

However from there on it continued to be England's game, with Rooney threatening to score but more importantly helping to set up yet more goals for his team mates. Rooney passed a ball on to Defoe who nutmegged Bulgarian keeper Nikolay Mihaylov, just minutes after Bulgaria threatened to equalise.

Defoe continued to pile on the pressure but it was Adam Johnson who was next to score, again thanks to a pass from Rooney. Just minutes later Rooney again teed up Defoe who got his hatrick and made it England 4 - Bulgaria 0 by the end of the game.

Despite the win there was a dark moment for England when Michael Dawson was taken off the pitch with an extremely serious looking injury to his right leg.