Untroubled England stroll to victory in Cardiff

England coach Fabio Capello declared himself "happy with the spirit" of his side as they strolled to a 2-0 win against Wales at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The victory moves England back to the top of their Euro 2012 qualifying group, level on points with Montenegro but with a superior goal difference.

Rarely have England looked so untroubled in an international as they did against a Wales side playing only their second match under new manager Gary Speed and without the injured Gareth Bale.

Capello was so confident of victory he handed West Ham midfielder Scott Parker his first competitive start for his country in over four years and there was also a first appearance in a championship match for Arsenal's 19-year-old Jack Wilshere as the Italian coach opted for a 4-3-3 formation.

It was one of the old hands, however, captain John Terry, who was instrumental in giving England the lead after just seven minutes. The Chelsea defender played a neat one-two with Ashley Cole on the edge of the Wales box and with the return pass Terry found Ashley Young, who was barged over by James Collins as he closed in on the Welsh goal.

Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca correctly pointed to the spot and Frank Lampard sent Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey the wrong way with the penalty.

The goal settled England, who began to play with a confidence not normally associated with the Three Lions, and on 14 minutes they extended the lead with a well-worked goal.

Glen Johnson's wonderful long ball down the right flank opened up the Wales defence, allowing Ashley Young all the time in the world to clip a low ball into the six-yard box and into the path of Darren Bent for this third international goal in as many games.

England switched to cruise control for the rest of the half with the only incident of note being Wayne Rooney's yellow card for a poor challenge on Joe Ledley, the England striker's second yellow of the qualifiers which means he misses the tie against Switzerland in June.

Wales never threatened in the second period and their best chance of the day went to Steve Morison after being put into space by captain Aaron Ramsey. But he squandered the opportunity and England closed out the game without ever looking like adding to their two early goals.

Nonetheless there were encouraging performances from Scott parker and Jack Wilshere, and Fabio Capello struck an upbeat note after. "We played really well, we passed the ball quickly and created chances to score goals with no chances for Wales," he said, adding: "The goals that we scored were really nice and in every moment we were focussed on the game which was important."

Capello also promised to begin Tuesday's friendly against Ghana at Wembley with a completely different starting XI as he looks to try different combinations. But so far so good for England and new captain John Terry was quick to praise Capello for starting with a 4-3-3 formation instead of sticking with the 4-4-2 he used to such disastrous effect in last year's World Cup.

"The new system was very positive," Terry said. "The attitude was to get at them and press them very high up the pitch. It stopped them breaking out early."

Wales manager Gary Speed had little to smile about after Wales fourth successive defeat in the qualifying stages for Euro 2012. "I'm disappointed with the first-half performance," admitted Speed. "We are a developing team and used to getting beat.

We have not got that winning mentality at the moment. Losing a goal in the first five minutes killed us really."

In other Euro 2012 qualifying ties, the Republic of Ireland moved to the top of their group with a 2-1 victory over Macedonia, while Germany disposed of Kazakhstan 4-0. Russia, however, were held to a goalless draw away at Armenia and there was a similar scoreline between Bulgaria and Switzerland, a good result for England as both sides are in their group. ·