Germany, England close to qualification
●Slovakia, Scotland and Slovenia in tough battle for playoffs place
Germany and England made a bold step towards direct qualification for next year’s finals in Russia when they beat Norway and Slovakia respectively yesterday evening. Germany easily disposed of Norway 6-0, while England came from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1.
Meanwhile, there is also a situation where any of the three leading teams can win Group E.
Poland lead with 19 points, followed by Denmark and Montenegro on 16.
Germany went all out in search of goals in the knowledge that they could qualify with a win hoping that N. Ireland would fail to beat the Czech Republic. Till midway in the first half, it seemed as if they would be the second European team to qualify, but N. Ireland scored twice against the Czechs before the interval to main their slim hopes.
Oezil opened the scoring for the impressive Germans on 10 minutes, Draxler added a second seven minutes later. It was then England Slovakia Slovenia Scotland Lithuania Malta
P W
8 8 8 8 8 8 6 5 4 4 1 0
D
2 0 2 2 2 0
L F A
0 16 3 3 14 6 2 10 4 2 14 10 5 6 18 8 2 21
Pts
20 15 14 14 5 0 the up and coming Timo Werner who scored twice on 21 and 40 minutes to give the home side a healthy 4-0 lead.
The Germans added two more goals in the second half, the first through Goretzka on the 50th minute and then through veteran Mario Gomez who netted in the 79th minute.
In Belfast, N. Ireland were aware that only a victory would keep them in the running to win the Group, even if their chances are very remote.
When Evans scored on 28 minutes, the Irish were a transformed side and it was no surprise they went on to add a second goal through Brunt four minutes before the end of the first half.
The Czechs tried hard to get back into the match, but N. Ireland’s determination saw them through.
Azerbaijan moved into third place in the group after a comfortable 5-1 win against San Marino.
Their goals were scored by Ismayilov 20 and 57, Abdullayev 25, Cevoli own goal 71 and Sadygov 81. Palazzi scored San Marino’s only goal.
In Group F, England came from behind to register a 2-1 victory against Slovakia.
The latter took a shock third minute lead through Lobotka and then frustrated the home side until the 37th minute when Dier finally equalised.
Marcus Rashford scored the winner in the 59th minute.
Scotland also won 2-0 against Malta (see opposite page).
But even Slovenia remained firmly in contention for the playoffs place with an emphatic 4-0 win against Lithuania.
Ilicic scored two penalties on 25 and 61 minutes to give them a commanding 2-0 lead, before Verbic 82, and Birsa, in added time, assured them of the three points.
Belgium
Bosnia Greece Cyprus Estonia Gibraltar
PWDL
8 8 8 8 8 8 7 4 3 3 2 0 1 2 4 1 2 0 0 2 1 4 4 8
F A Pts
35 3 22 19 8 14 11 5 13 8 12 10 6 17 8 3 37 0
Slovakia now remain on 15 points, followed by Slovenia and Scotland on 14.
In Group D, Denmark were once again impressive in a 4-1 victory, this time against Armenia in Yerevan.
It was the second time in a few days that the Danes scored four goals, having beaten Poland 4-0 last Friday.
The victory enabled them to remain firmly in contention to win the group and, if not, for the playoffs place.
Thomas Delaney scored a great hat-trick for Denmark with goals on 17, 81 and 90 minutes. Eriksen scored in the 29th to give his side a 2-1 lead, after Koryan had given the home side the lead with a goal on 7 minutes.