European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup have begun
Road to Russia: Germany, Scotland off to big winning road starts
World Cup Qualifiers Results:
San Marino 0 – 1 Azerbaijan
Denmark 1 – 0 Armenia
Kazakhstan 2 – 2 Poland
Lithuania 2 – 2 Slovenia
Slovakia 0 – 1 England
Road to Russia: England’s Lallana nets winner in 95th to give Allardyce winning start
The road to Russia began on Sunday for the European nations as 9 qualifiers were played across the continent.
There were mixed results for the nations who appeared in EURO2016.
Poland seemed to be on the way to an impressive victory in Kazakhstan with goals from new Leicester City winger Bartosz Kapustka and Robert Lewandowski. However the Kazakhs retorted in the second half with two goals from Tobol of Kotanai’s Sergei Khizhnichenko, his first for his country since one day short of two years ago.
It’s two dropped points for the Poles but that might not matter in a generally forgiving Group E that also contains Denmark, Montenegro, Romania and Armenia.
There were two clashes where two EURO2016 qualifiers met each other.
Slovakia and England met at the Stadion Antona Malatinskeho in Trnava and a mere 224 miles away, Northern Ireland face the Czech Republic in Prague.
For the English, it was the first match in charge for new coach Sam Allardyce who retained eight of the eleven men who started in the doomed EUROs match with Iceland.
It was an unimpressive display by England but they were presented with an unearned opportunity in the 57th minute when Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel, already on a yellow and a warning, stamped on Harry Kane and was sent off, an act called “irresponsible, idiotic, unforgivable” by Tom Rostance covering for the BBC.
Despite that, Prost columnist Terry Butcher, also working for the BBC, wasn’t getting his hopes up too high:
“To be honest I don’t actually know if that will help England’s cause…”
Eight minutes later Wayne Rooney delivered England’s first shot on goal of the match.
Butcher wrote on the BBC:
“If England continue to play like this in this Group then we really will have a struggle to qualify.”
Theo Walcott had a last minute goal disallowed for offside but fortune and the referee’s watch were on their side.
Adam Lallana scored the game’s only goal deep in stoppage time to give Allardyce a winning start. The referee had already added on five minutes when he pounced on a cross from Danny Rose and shot at Slovak goalkeeper Matus Kozacik. The ball however went straight through the Viktoria Plzen keeper to give England the three points with the last kick of the match.
In later games, Germany are in Norway and Romania host Montenegro.
Outside the EURO2016 sides, Lithuania provided the early shock of the day when they scored two quick goals to lead Slovenia 2-0, Fedor Cernych and Viktor Slivka scoring in the pouring rain in Vilnius.
The Slovenes who had 66% of the possession fought back however. A second half goal from Rene Krhin was followed by an equaliser with the last kick of the match (actually a header) by Chievo’s Bostigan Cesar in a group also containing England, Scotland and Slovakia.
Azerbaijan beat minnows San Marino 0 : 1 and Denmark opened their account with a home win over Armenia after Spurs Christian Eriksen set them on their way in the 17th minute but he also missed a penalty.
In the day’s final qualifier, Malta entertain Scotland.
World Cup Qualifiers:
San Marino 0 – 1 Azerbaijan
Denmark 1 – 0 Armenia
Kazakhstan 2 – 2 Poland
Lithuania 2 – 2 Slovenia
Slovakia 0 – 1 England
Later Kick-offs
Czech Republic 11 : 45 Northern Ireland
Norway 11 : 45 Germany
Romania 11 : 45 Montenegro
Malta 11 : 45 Scotland
Tomorrow’s Fixtures (Kick offs Pacific Time):
Georgia 09 : 00 Austria
Serbia 11 : 45 Republic of Ir…
Wales 11 : 45 Moldova
Albania 11 : 45 FYR Macedonia
Israel 11 : 45 Italy
Spain 11 : 45 Liechtenstein
Croatia 11 : 45 Turkey
Ukraine 11 : 45 Iceland
Finland 11 : 45 Kosovo
