Poland cement lead in Group E

Scotland hopes still alive

PODGORICA, Montenegro, March 27, (Agencies): Poland know they need Robert Lewandowski as much as Portugal needs Cristiano Ronaldo.

Captain Lewandowski scored Sunday to help Poland cement their top place in Group E with a 2-1 victory at second-placed Montenegro, and continue his own battle with Ronaldo.

Midway through the campaign, the Bayern Munich star has eight goals. That’s just one less than Ronaldo, who is the top scorer in qualifying. Ronaldo scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Hungary on Saturday in Group B.

Poland opened a six-point lead in their group with 13 points, with Montenegro and Denmark both on seven.

Lewandowski struck five minutes before the interval from a perfectly executed free kick.

Poland looked in control in the second half before Stefan Mugosa beat the Polish offside trap and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in a rare scoring chance for the hosts. It was Mugosa’s first international goal.

Lukasz Piszczek restored the Polish lead nine minutes from time.

Armenia 2, Kazakhstan 0 Armenia needed just two minutes in the second half to deal with 10-man Kazakhstan for a second straight victory under new coach Artur Petrosyan.

The game was still 0-0 when Sergey Malyy was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 64th. Kazakhstan Slovenia’s Bojan Jokic (left), vies for the ball with Scotland’s James Forrest during their World Cup Group F qualifying soccer match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland on March 26. (AP)