Opta take a look at the standout stats from the Euro 2012 qualifiers on Tuesday
A break from Premier League action does not mean a break from the desk for Optajoe as he continues his footballing vigil by examining some of the quirkier stories in the international game:
Striking improvements
At the World Cup in South Africa one of England's major shortcomings was their inability to take their chances in front of goal, putting just 6.1% of their shots into the back of the net.
However this is something that has dramatically improved in the two games this week, increasing this figure by a factor of five to 30.4% during Euro 2012 Qualifying.
Key in this has been the performances of the Three Lions' strikers. Wayne Rooney finally ended his goal drought against Switzerland, though not before he had made 11 consecutive starts for England without scoring.
By comparison, Emile Heskey has never made more than 10 straight starts for his country without finding the net.
Jermain Defoe grabbed a hat-trick against Bulgaria, meaning that 11 of his 15 goals for England have come as part of a brace or hat-trick, whilst Darren Bent scored with his first-ever shot on target for the Three Lions in his seventh appearance.
Keeper capers
Following the game against Bulgaria, it looked as though Joe Hart might finally have cemented his place as England’s number one, saving both of their shots and making four high claims, without punching or dropping a single one.
However the game against Switzerland may have shown that he is lacking in the consistency that Capello is after. Though largely a bystander in the match, he dropped two balls into his area and failed to stop the only shot on his goal.
Prior to this match he had never dropped a ball he had gone to claim for England, leaving the management to wonder whether this was an unexpected blip or a symptom of a wider loss of form.
Scotland spared blushes
Scotland came within a whisker of humiliation as a last-gasp goal from Stephen McManus helped them to a 2-1 win over Liechtenstein.
Had this goal not been scored, they would have been only the fourth side to fail to beat the minnows at home in an international match, after Luxembourg, Iceland and Azerbaijan.
Kilbane and the minnows
Shay Given and Kevin Kilbane continue to vie for the position as Ireland’s most-capped player, setting a new joint-record every time they play together.
Not known for his goalscoring ability, on Tuesday Kilbane netted his sixth competitive international goal to mark his 106th cap, continuing his trend of scoring against international minnows.
His competitive Irish goals so far stack up as three against Andorra (one in each appearance), one against San Marino, one against the Faroe Islands and one against the Czech Republic, the only one of the teams he has scored against to have actually featured in a major international tournament.
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