Bulgaria U21 0 England U21 2: Huddlestone shines in soggy Sofia

Tom Huddlestone and Mark Noble scored the goals in soggy Sofia yesterday as the England Under-21s continued their perfect start to Euro 2009 qualification with a 2-0 defeat of Bulgaria.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Huddlestone, returning from suspension, skidded a volley home for the opener when Noble showed composure in the slippery conditions to double the lead before the break, when he rounded the goalkeeper and finished for his first goal for England at this level.

Noble picked up his second booking in as many games, so will be ruled out of the next qualifier, but his coach Stuart Pearce can still reflect happily on maximum points from the tricky trip to the Balkans.

Newcastle United winger James Milner had a couple of early efforts which were blocked, meaning Bulgaria's Nikolai Mihaylov, the Liverpool goalkeeper on loan at FC Twente, was not needed early on.

At the other end, Joe Hart dealt with Nikolai Dimitrov's free-kick after Milner had committed a foul. Lubomir Bozhinov had a more powerful effort from 30 yards but it also lacked direction.

Martin Crainie had to time a challenge to perfection in the penalty area on Valeri Domovchiyski after Dimitrov had played him through following an exciting run. It was the visitors who broke the deadlock, though, and the teeming rain in Sofia playing a part in England's 25th-minute opener.

Milner made tracks down the right before back-heeling to Noble, who picked out Huddlestone on the edge of the area with his cross. The Spurs midfielder produced a trademark first-time volley that skidded past Mihaylov.

Nedum Onuoha was booked a minute later for a heavy challenge on Domovchiyski but the hosts wasted the free-kick.

England doubled their lead in the 32nd minute after Gabriel Agbonlahor raced down the left. The ball was worked to Blackburn's Matt Derbyshire, who slipped Noble through to shimmy past the stricken Mihaylov and finish.

Mihaylov had to parry a Huddlestone free-kick to keep the score down before the break. He also had to turn Derbyshire's diving header around the post.

Domovchiyski should have reduced the deficit twice but fired just wide on both occasions.

Bulgaria U-21: Mihailov, Domovchiyski, Bandalovski, Ivanov, Lanchev, Kovachev, Fidanin, Orlinov, Bozhinov, Dimitrov, Kyrdov. Substitutes used: Stoev (for Orlinov, 54); Mirchev (for Kyrdov, 62); Dulgerov (for Lanchev, 68).

England U-21: Hart (Manchester City), Cranie (Portsmouth), A Taylor (Middlesbrough), Noble (West Ham United), S Taylor (Newcastle United), Onuoha (Manchester City), Milner (Newcastle), Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Derbyshire (Blackburn Rovers), Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Walcott (Arsenal). Substitutes used: Muamba (Birmingham City) for Walcott, 55; Kightly (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for Agbonlahor, 70; Moore (Aston Villa) for Derbyshire, 82.

Referee: F Fautrel (France).