DAVID Beckham spent most of last week predicting that playing against Wales would be the closest England came to facing Premiership opposition and, at Old Trafford, the Real Madrid midfielder was proved right.

It wasn't that Mark Hughes' men displayed the kind of pride and passion normally associated with a club side, or even that they played at the pace and tempo expected in the domestic game.

It was just that, for large chunks of Saturday's tame surrender, Wales bore more than a passing resemblance to Crystal Palace. They really were that bad.

There are meant to be no easy games at international level any more - well this was about as close as they come.

When the draw for Group Six was made, the two games with Wales were supposed to be England's potential banana skins.

After a gap of some 20 years, this was the chance for the Welsh dragon to roar once more and confirm a challenge to English supremacy in the battle of the home nations.

But, as Sven-Goran Eriksson's side swept to the top of the qualifying group after their opening three games, Wales looked every inch like a team who had failed to beat Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland in their previous two outings.

The dragon was seriously short of puff and, on a day that was supposed to be notable for Welsh fire and brimstone, the only fight of substance was the tussle between Michael Owen and Frank Lampard as to who should claim England's fourth-minute opener. Even at that early stage, the game was up.

Tougher tests will lie ahead for the hosts - one could even come in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on Wednesday night - but, after gambling with three strikers in his starting line-up, Eriksson was understandably satisfied with his team's display.

"We have shown that we have found a solution to three strikers and it works," said the England boss. "I thought the three combined very well together.

"It's all very well saying that by playing three strikers you are going to score plenty of goals, but you have to have a balance in the team and I don't know whether we will continue with it.

"I thought it worked well for us against Wales. We're not taking anything for granted, but we have seven points from three games and we know we should have had two more."

In truth, England would probably have won whether they had used one or five strikers - such was their dominance - but, by playing Wayne Rooney in behind Owen and Jermain Defoe, Eriksson allowed the Scouse superstar to unleash the full range of his talents.

Wales were forced to shuffle their defence when former Sunderland centre-half Andy Melville pulled his hamstring in the warm-up - it was a shame that re-organisation did not include picking up Rooney.

The Manchester United striker was England's dominant force all afternoon, dropping off deep to receive the ball from Beckham or Lampard before driving at the heart of a back-pedalling Welsh defence.

At times his youthful exuberance got the better of him - one second-half shot was particularly wasteful with Owen all alone in the six-yard box - but Rooney's willingness to go looking for space offered England an extra attacking outlet they lacked throughout the European Championships.

It also prompted the home side to knock short passes out of defence and, instead of the hopeful 40-yard punts that so regularly went astray in the summer, a capacity Old Trafford crowd were treated to protracted sessions of keep-ball as England finally showed signs of coming to terms with a more continental style of play.

Rooney's probing also afforded England's front two extra flexibility and, while Defoe was strangely subdued on his second international start, Owen belied his recent poor form to more than justify his presence in the team.

A better side than Wales might have flooded the central areas in an attempt to force England out wide, and future opponents will have noticed the ease with which Cardiff's Danny Gabbidon dealt with England's diminutive strike force whenever the ball was thrown in from the flanks.

But, with Lampard and Beckham pulling the strings in midfield, the home side were able to bide their time before carving through the heart of the Wales defence.

Their task was made easier in the opening five minutes as the Welsh game plan of early containment was blown apart by England's first meaningful attack.

Nicky Butt fed Owen on the edge of the box and, when he laid the ball off to Lampard, the Chelsea midfielder's strike deflected in off Owen's heel.

Lampard wheeled away in celebration but, after suffering a fraught start to the season, Owen was not about to pass up the chance to claim 28th international goal of his career.

"It came off my leg and the goal is mine," said the Real Madrid striker, who has not scored competitively since England's 3-0 win over Ukraine in the opening week of the season.

"It's something lucky like that which can turn everything round for you. I've taken a bit of stick lately but I knew my time was about to come."

"The referee's given it to me and the referee's decision is final," countered Lampard but, after struggling to bed in at the Bernabeu, few could begrudge Owen claiming his slice of luck.

The first of Rooney's surging runs almost doubled England's advantage seven minutes later but, after advancing unchallenged for almost 20 yards, his long-range effort was tipped onto the post by goalkeeper Paul Jones.

With Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell reunited at the heart of defence, England were never seriously threatened and, as the second half wore on, it became a question of how many the home side would score.

Gabbidon produced an excellent sliding tackle to thwart Owen, before Jones clung on to a delicate Beckham floater, but the England skipper was not to be denied for long.

Picking the ball up on the left edge of the box, he graced his former home with a sensational 25-yard curler that flew into the top right-hand corner of the net.

That was the beauty of Beckham's game, but the beast also reared its head in the closing minutes as a needless feud with Welsh full-back Ben Thatcher resulted in a cracked rib and a yellow card that would have kept him out of Wednesday's game anyway.

Jones' great late save from Owen prevented further embarrassment but, by then, the writing was well and truly on the wall.

"I hope we can run away with the group but you can never take anything for granted," said Eriksson.

On this form, England should be certainties for the World Cup in two years' time.

The only way you see will Wales in Germany in 2006 however, is via a trip to Berlin Aquarium.

Result: England 2 Wales 1.