Nistelrooy inspires Dutch

Ten-man Netherlands consolidated their position at the top of Group One with a 4-0 World Cup qualifying rout of Andorra on Wednesday.

The Dutch went 2-0 up inside 28 minutes thanks to Rafael van der Vaart and an own goal from Antonio Lima.

Philip Cocu was dismissed for elbowing in the 38th minute before Ruud van Nistelrooy added a third goal before the break.

Van Nistelrooy notched his second goal in the final minute.

Netherlands have 28 points from 10 matches, four more than the second-placed Czech Republic. Andorra are second from bottom on five points.

The Dutch and the Czechs meet in Prague on October 8 and Netherlands only need a point to qualify for the finals.

Coach Marco van Basten made five changes to the Dutch team on duty for the 1-0 victory in Armenia on Saturday, with Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie supporting van Nistelrooy up front.

Andorra, who have never won an away match, were forced to retreat as Robben and van Persie spurned early chances.

Van der Vaart opened the scoring with a superb lob from 10 metres before the unfortunate Lima put through his own net following a header from Cocu.

Cocu, though, was shown the red card for elbowing Fernando Silva after the Andorra striker had fouled van der Vaart.

Even with 10 men Netherlands kept Andorra under pressure and van Nistelrooy claimed his 24th international goal to level van Basten's tally.

The Manchester United striker hit the post with an 83rd-minute penalty before making up for his error with the fourth goal six minutes later.