France slump to 1-0 home defeat against Belarus

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.................

England 4 Bulgaria 0
HAT-TRICK HERO ... England's Jermain Defoe scores the first of his treble against Bulgaria

JERMAIN DEFOE'S stunning hat-trick got England's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign off to a flying start.
The Tottenham striker bagged a treble and Adam Johnson scored his first senior international goal as Fabio Capello's men battered Bulgaria.

And the performance went some way to restoring the nation's faith in the team following their dismal World Cup campaign.

Defoe struck after only three minutes to give England an early advantage, scored his second on the hour and completed his hat-trick in the dying moments to cap a memorable display.

Substitute Johnson also got in on the act with a fine effort of his own as the Bulgarians were totally outclassed.

The hosts dominated possession and were rarely troubled in the first half, although Joe Hart made two fantastic saves in the second period to keep the visitors at bay.

England made the perfect start when Defoe smashed home from five yards after Ashley Cole's initial shot had been blocked.

But Hart had to be alert shortly afterwards when he stopped a misdirected effort from teammate Glen Johnson.

Wayne Rooney was still looking as if he was lacking in full sharpness, with his touch leaving a lot to be desired.

James Milner tried his luck from 25 yards out but his low drive did not seriously test Nicolay Mihaylov.

Bulgaria settled down after conceding the early goal but failed to pose much of an attacking threat.

Mihaylov took no chances in turning a cross from Theo Walcott over his crossbar after some trickery from the Arsenal winger.

Towards the end of the first half, Milner swerved a shot across the face of goal and Mihaylov did well to hang on to a low centre from Walcott under pressure from Defoe.

Walcott conceded a free-kick early in the second period after bringing down Zhivko Milanov but the centre from Martin Petrov was headed clear by Phil Jagielka.

There was a flash of Rooney at his best when he attempted an audacious chip from just outside the box which was finger-tipped over by Mihaylov.

But England had a let-off after 53 minutes when Popov's low drive beat the dive of Hart but flashed just past the far post after he had been played in by Bojinov.

England were forced into a substitution two minutes later when Michael Dawson fell awkwardly on his left knee after a challenge from Popov.

The Tottenham defender looked in considerable pain when he was stretchered off and was replaced by debutant Gary Cahill.

Hart came to England's rescue when he beat out Angelov's rising shot — but 14 seconds later Defoe had doubled England's lead.

Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard and Rooney were involved in the build-up before Defoe slipped his shot through the legs of Mihaylov.

Popov was then booked for a late challenge on Milner.

Hart again showed his worth with a one-handed save to keep out a fierce effort from Dimitar Rangelov who had replaced Bojinov a couple of minutes earlier.

Defoe almost nabbed his hat-trick on 76 minutes after Gerrard's long-range drive was only partially stopped by Mihaylov, but the Bulgarian keeper managed to claw the ball away at the second attempt.

Sub Johnson — on for Walcott — then saw a 25 yard effort go wide as England piled on the pressure.

With seven minutes left, Defoe found space on the edge of the area but lashed a speculative effort well over the bar.

However, England got their deserved third goal 60 seconds later when Johnson crashed the ball home after good link-up play from Defoe and Rooney.

And Defoe capped a superb individual performance by firing in his third — and England's fourth — in the dying moments.

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