Pjanic has got Bosnia Fin with a shout now
MIRALEM PJANIC struck twice as Bosnia and Herzegovina secured a comfortable 4-1 win over Finland to leave them in with a shout of Group J qualification.
Substitute Izet Hajrovic – who replaced Edin Visca in the 18th minute – drove home from a tight angle to give the hosts the lead in the crucial clash.
Pjanic then grabbed his first from the spot after Finland full-back Jukka Raitala was penalised for handball.
The punishment didn’t stop for the Finns after the restart as Pjanic and striker Armin Hodzic volleyed home to build up a commanding lead.
The visitors – who stay two points ahead of their rivals with three games remaining – pulled one back 20 minutes from time when sub Joel Pohjanpalo smashed home from close range.
Demark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was delighted after a man-of-the-match performance helped his side hold on for a crucial 1-0 win over Switzerland in Copenhagen.
Yussuf Poulsen netted the only goal in the 85th minute after being sent clear by a superb ball from Christian Eriksen.
And Schmeichel then clawed away a last-gasp free-kick effort from the Swiss to put his side on the brink of qualification.
The Leicester City keeper said: “We battled for the whole game, there was a tremendous atmosphere.
“I think that was one of my best performances for Denmark.”
Romania took 75 minutes to break down the Faroe Islands before three late strikes wrapped up a comfortable scoreline.
George Puscas finally struck for the frustrated visitors in Torshavn before Alexandru Mitrita and Claudiu Keseru added further strikes to see it finish 3-0. HARRY MAGUIRE fears club issues are having a negative effect on the Three Lions’ beleaguered defence.
Maguire, who became the world’s most expensive defender when Manchester United paid Leicester
£80million in the summer, has settled in well at Old Trafford despite a disappointing start to the campaign by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.
Danny Rose has suffered similar results at Tottenham after being linked with a move away from the London club.
And Everton defensive pair, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and centre-back Michael Keane, are already fighting a battle to get away from the lower reaches of the Premier League.
Despite Kieran Trippier enjoying life with new club Atletico Madrid, there was an obvious lack of confidence about Gareth Southgate’s back four in the shock
2-1 Euro qualifying defeat by the Czech Republic on Friday night.
And Maguire, 26, concedes that domestic struggles may be hurting their form for England.
He said: “Maybe it is a confidence thing because we bring our club football to the international level.
“It was a difficult game against the Czechs. We started sloppily and took the lead when we probably didn’t deserve to.
“In the second half we controlled the game a lot more but we gave them a sloppy goal to win the match.
“So we do need to improve on that aspect.
“It’s hard to lose any football game but we were not at our best and got punished for it.”
Three Lions boss Southgate clearly has issues at the back.
He changed his England defence for the 14th successive game and saw his team’s 10-year unbeaten run in qualifying games crumble at