Virgil’s international rescue for Dutch
HOLLAND breathed new life into their international prospects with a welcome 3-0 win over Germany in Amsterdam last night.
The Dutch netted on the half-hour when former Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk headed home and clinched matters late on via goals from Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum.
That allowed them to leapfrog Germany, who play France on Tuesday in Paris, into second place in Group A1.
Czech Republic gained bragging rights over neighbours Slovakia with a 2-1 victory in Trnava.
After a goalless first half, the visitors opened the scoring in the 52nd minute via Michael Krmencik.
That lead lasted only 10 minutes as Slovakian talisman Marek Hamsik slammed in the equaliser.
However, the Czechs sealed three points when Patrik Schick netted the winner with 14 minutes left.
They are now in second place behind Ukraine in Group B1.
Norway moved joint top of Group C3 temporarily alongside Bulgaria with a 1-0 win over Slovenia.
Ole Selnaes scored the only goal of the match in first-half injury-time.
Bulgaria regained their three-point lead at the top of the section when they later beat Cyprus 2-1.
The Cypriots led at the break thanks to Grigoris Kastanos but goals from Kiril Despodov and Todor Nedelev effected a second-half turnaround.
In Group D4, Gibraltar conjured up an unlikely win in Armenia courtesy of Joseph Chipolina’s 50th-minute penalty.
FYR Macedonia lead the way in that section by six points following their 4-1 victory over Liechtenstein.
Georgia cemented their status as runaway leaders of Group D1 with a 3-0 win over Andorra in Tbilisi. Valeri Qazaishvili grabbed a double and Jaba Kankava netted the other.
Latvia drew 1-1 with Kazakhstan in the section’s other game.