England, Germany stay on World Cup course

PARIS — England and defending champions Germany remained on course for the 2018 World Cup on Sunday while Danny Blind was sacked as Dutch coach after his misfiring team faced missing a second straight major finals.

At Wembley, Jermain Defoe marked his international comeback with a goal as England toiled to a 20 victory over Lithuania.

Defoe, 34, who was making his first England appearance since November 2013, hit the target midway through the second half for his 20th international goal.

Substitute Jamie Vardy added a second as England tightened their grip on first place in Group F.

Gareth Southgate's side are now the last team in European qualifying yet to have conceded a goal.

England have 13 points, four ahead of Slovakia with just the nine group winners in Europe guaranteed a place at the finals in Russia in 2018.

"We'd have liked a bit more, but I think really only one team came to win the game and it's always difficult to break down a packed defense," said Southgate.

Slovakia went second in the group with a 3-1 win at Malta while Scotland are six points off the pace after substitute Chris Martin scored an 88th-minute winner against Slovenia in Glasgow.

Germany maintained their 100 percent record with a 4-1 win over Azerbaijan in Baku as they moved to 15 points in Group C.