Wayne Rooney rides to England’s rescue as Manchester United captain secures victory in Slovenia

Austria deal heavy blow to Russia's Euro 2016 hopes after Marc Janko overhead kick secures 1-0 win in Moscow

Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring the third goal for his side in England's 3-2 victory at Slovenia in Euro 2016 qualifying Group E on June 14, 2015. John Sibley / Reuters

Captain Wayne Rooney moved to within one goal of Bobby Charlton’s England scoring record on Sunday by clinching a 3-2 victory over Slovenia in 2016 European Championship qualifying.

Rooney’s 48th international goal – level with Gary Lineker’s England haul – made it six wins out of six for the Group E ­leaders.

Before Rooney moved closer to the scoring landmark, midfielder Jack Wilshere got his first two England goals in his 28th game.

The victory ensured England completed the season unbeaten for the first time in 24 years – 12 months after the team’s worst World Cup performance – and makes qualifying for Euro 2016 a near certainty. England surged nine points in front of Slovenia.

“It’s great to score the winner and it was a great team performance,” Rooney said.

“We were unlucky to be 1-0 down and we spoke about that at half time, and came out on the front foot.”

Milivoje Novakovic exploited England’s sloppiness to give Slovenia a half-time lead, but Wilshere scored two slick, long-range strikes to put the visitors in front.

Although Nejc Pecnik headed in an 84th-minute equaliser, Rooney pounced two minutes later after collecting a pass from substitute Theo Walcott to steal the limelight from Wilshere.

“Jack and myself have formed a good understanding on the pitch,” Rooney said. “Hopefully he stays injury free and he will be a top player in world football.”

The goals for Wilshere come at the end of another injury-blighted season for Arsenal, where his off-field conduct has come in for criticism.

“It’s nice to get a first couple of goals for England,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and I had chances in previous games.

“Usually in that area for Arsenal we play a bit more, but the first one came, I hit it and it went in. I want to add more goals. Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes – they all scored for England and I want that.”

Also in Group E, Estonia went fourth with a 2-0 win at last-place San Marino thanks to two goals from Sergei Zenjov.

In Moscow, a spectacular overhead kick from Marc Janko gave Austria an impressive 1-0 win in Russia to put them in control of Group G.

Janko’s acrobatic strike stunned the Moscow crowd and Austria held firm to move to 16 points from six matches, eight ahead of third-placed Russia.

The hosts made a nervous start and Austria deservedly took the lead after 33 minutes.

Following a defensive mix-up, the ball was only cleared as far as Janko, who produced a spectacular finish.

In Vaduz, Liechtenstein and Moldova drew 1-1 as both remained at the bottom end of Group G, while Ukraine beat Luxembourg 3-0 in Lviv in the early match in Group C.

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