Scotland vs. England: Score, Grades and Reaction from International Friendly

Wayne Rooney moved closer to England's scoring record as the Three Lions defeated Scotland 3-1 on Tuesday in an international friendly at Celtic Park in Glasgow.

After Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put England ahead with a 32nd-minute header, Rooney doubled his side's advantage early in the second half with a headed goal of his own. Scotland pulled back a late goal through Andrew Robertson, but Rooney restored England's two-goal lead moments later with his second strike of the match.

The goals were Rooney's 45th and 46th for his country, moving him within striking distance of England's all-time mark. Sir Bobby Charlton currently holds the record with 49.

Barring suspension or injury, Rooney's next chance to chase the record will come when England resume European Championship qualifying at home to Lithuania on March 27, 2015. The Three Lions top Group E with 12 points through four matches and will almost certainly qualify for the Euro 2016 finals in France as group winners.

Scotland will resume Euro 2016 qualifying on March 29, 2015, at home to Gibraltar. Gordon Strachan's side currently sit level on points with Germany and the Republic of Ireland for second place in Group D. The top two teams in each group advance automatically to the final tournament.

England's opening goal came in the 32nd minute though at first there seemed to be little danger.

Holding possession on the left well outside the box, Jack Wilshere carved out the danger by himself with an excellent delivery straight into the box, where Arsenal teammate Oxlade-Chamberlain was waiting. With a deft flick of his head, Oxlade-Chamberlain tucked the ball inside the far post for the game's opening goal.

Still leading 1-0 at half-time, England grabbed a second goal shortly after the restart.

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

The goal was on the scrappy side, as Wilshere sent the lofted pass into the goalmouth after Scotland failed to clear a free-kick. The ball deflected back into the path of Rooney, who headed in from the edge of the six-yard box.

England controlled much of the second half after the second goal and appeared to be cruising to an easy victory. But Scotland weren't finished, and with seven minutes left, the hosts pulled a goal back.

Robertson started and finished the scoring sequence, dribbling past Sterling on the left before passing to Johnny Russell near the byline. After receiving the pass back from Russell, Robertson finished past Fraser Forster at the near post to set up a potentially tense finale.

It wasn't to be, though. Just two minutes later, Rooney restored England's two-goal advantage.

In the 85th minute, a flowing England move saw James Milner pick out Adam Lallana on the right. Lallana crossed into the middle for Rooney, who finished coolly with his right foot to seal England's win.

Grades

Starting XI	Rating
Substitutes	Rating
David Marshall	6.1
Steven Whittaker	6.3
Russell Martin	5.9
Grant Hanley	6.9
Andrew Robertson	7.0
Shaun Maloney	7.0
Charlie Mulgrew	6.9
Scott Brown	6.2
Ikechi Anya	6.1
Steven Naismith	6.0
Chris Martin	5.9
Darren Fletcher	6.4
Craig Gordon	6.2
James Morrison	7.3
Barry Bannan	6.1
Stevie May	6.0
Johnny Russell	6.6

Starting XI	Rating
Substitutes	Rating
Fraser Forster	6.0
Nathaniel Clyne	7.3
Gary Cahill	6.6
Chris Smalling	6.6
Luke Shaw	7.1
James Milner	6.6
Jack Wilshere	7.6
Stewart Downing	6.8
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	7.8
Wayne Rooney	8.6
Danny Welbeck	6.9
Adam Lallana	7.6
Phil Jagielka	6.5
Raheem Sterling	6.2
Kieran Gibbs	6.2
Rickie Lambert	6.0
Ross Barkley	5.9

Reaction

England captain Wayne Rooney (via TheFA.com):

"

I’m just enjoying my football at the minute. I’m enjoying playing for England—I’ve always loved doing it. I’m on a good run of scoring goals and I hope that continues. If that means breaking the record then I’ll be absolutely delighted. The qualifiers are the important games for us. England v Scotland is a massive game but our aim is to qualify for Euro 2016. 

Tonight was a fantastic victory against a Scotland team who are in good form but we’ve come here and shown our class and deserved the victory. It’s fantastic as a footballer to play in these games. It’s great. We knew it was going to be a big atmosphere—it always is here, we expected it. To be honest, we expected to win the game – we were the better team and we’ve shown that tonight.

"

England manager Roy Hodgson (via Sky Sports):

"

It was certainly a good performance and there are many young players. We were talking a lot about the atmosphere and the support Scotland get here and how it's a little bit different to many of the games you play.

I thought we handled it well. I thought our fans were magnificent throughout because without being able to shout down the 50,000-odd that outnumbered them, they certainly gave a good account of themselves and towards the end of the game I was very aware of their presence.

"

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan (via Sky Sports):

"

We're disappointed to finish the year with a defeat. There could be a couple of things that made that happen tonight. One was definitely an England side that was determined and as intense as I've seen them for a long time.

I think we've got to say well done to England. That's a team full of Champions League players. We're maybe a bit mentally tired from Friday. Physically yes, but mentally I think too and I think England spooked us with an intensity early in the game and we never really got our rhythm going again.

We could have passed the ball better but England were after us and they tested that. When you take on a terrific England side like that, and that's as good as I've seen England play for a while, you've got to have at least 10 players playing well. If you asked our lads tonight, I don't think many of them would put their hand up.

"