By Dan Harrison

Ashley Young took the bragging rights over his Villa captain as England defeated Stiliyan Petrov's Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley.

On a busy night of Euro 2012 qualification action, the Three Lions proved too strong for Petrov's side in the opening Group G clash.

The Villa midfielder skippered his nation at the national stadium, while Young replaced hat-trick hero Jermain Defoe in the closing stages.

It took just two minutes for Fabio Capello's team to take the lead through Defoe after good work from Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole on the left hand side.

But Bulgaria had chances of their own and were denied on several occasions by England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Ironically, England's second goal came immediately after the Manchester City goalkeeper blocked Stanislav Angelov's powerful drive.

It allowed the hosts to sweep forward on the counter-attack as Rooney and Steven Gerrard combined to tee up Defoe for his second.

The points were wrapped up with late goals from Man City's Adam Johnson and a third for Tottenham striker Defoe.

There was also an international debut for former Villa defender Gary Cahill, who replaced the injured Michael Dawson.

England now head to Basel for Tuesday night's Group G clash against Swizerland.

Richard Dunne also experienced a winning start to the European Championship qualifiers, as Republic of Ireland earned a 1-0 win in Armenia.

The Villa ace was impressive in the centre of defence alongside Preston North End's Sean St Ledger.

Ireland had a couple of chances to take the lead through Robbie Keane, before Keith Fahey of Birmingham City provided the crucial strike on 76 minutes.

Dunne made several important blocks as Giovanni Trapattoni's team sealed a priceless victory ahead of Tuesday's Group B game against Andorra at Croke Park.

But James Collins had a night to forget for Wales in their Group G clash with Montenegro.

A goal from Roma striker Mirko Vucinic on 30 minutes earned Montenegro a 1-0 victory in Podgorica.

To make matters worse, the Villa defender left the field with a facial injury after taking an elbow from Miodrag Dzudovic.

However, the Spartak Nalchik player - who had already been booked - escaped further punishment.

Nathan Delfouneso and Marc Albrighton were with England under-21s in Portugal, as Stuart Pearce's men kept their Euro 2011 hopes alive with a 1-0 triumph.

A goal from Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge in the first half means a win over Lithuania in Colchester on Tuesday will put the Three Lions in contention for the play-offs.

Delfouneso came off the bench in the dying minutes of the clash in Barcelos and had a decent opportunity to double England's advantage with the last kick off the game, but he shot wide.

His club-mate Albrighton was an unused substitute.

Also in under-21 action, Barry Bannan helped Scotland to a 1-1 draw with Belarus in Borisov.

The home side took the lead against the run of play on 36 minutes through Pavel Nekhaychik, but Chris Maguire's second-half penalty keeps Scotland in contention for a place in the Euro 2011 qualification play-offs.

Bannan came close to scoring from a free-kick routine, with a shot which sailed inches over the crossbar.

Scotland can reach the play-offs by overcoming Austria in a must-win clash in Aberdeen on Tuesday.