STILL SUB STANDARD
Rooney benched but new-look England fail to fire as only Hart’s heroics earn a point
ENGLAND failed to win a qualifier for the first time in three years last night and had goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank for earning them a point.
Gareth Southgate’s second match in charge saw England disappoint, with dropped captain Wayne Rooney coming on as a second-half substitute and making little impact.
But after his blunder proved so costly against Iceland as England crashed out of Euro 2016, Hart was their high-flying hero in Ljubljana with a series of outstanding saves, including a stunning effort to claw out a header from Jasmin Kurtic. “It’s my best game in a while and I was asked to do quite a bit,” said Hart.
England created only a handful of openings. A 0-0 draw in Ukraine in September 2013 was the last qualifier they did not win.
Also in Group F, Scotland went down 3-0 to Slovakia.
SCOTLAND suffered a huge blow in their bid to reach the World Cup finals with this crushing defeat in Trnava last night.
Manager Gordon Strachan watched as his side’s defensive frailties were ruthlessly exposed to leave them with just four points from their opening three Group F games.
Robert Mak was the architect of their downfall as the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder grabbed a double, while Adam Nemec got the third.
Strachan, below, now desperately needs his side to get something from their trip to face the Auld Enemy at Wembley on November 11 but, on this form, their chances of reaching Russia are virtually zero.
Yet the Scots had started brightly as Robert Snodgrass picked out Steven Fletcher with a fine ball but the Sheffield Wednesday striker fluffed his header.
The home side settled and Jan Durica had a long-range shot that troubled Hull keeper David Marshall.
And the Scotland keeper was at fault for Slovakia’s opener after 18 minutes when he failed to hold Marek Hamsik’s header and Mak fired in the loose ball.
Scotland claimed Steven Fletcher had been fouled in the build-up but Swedish referee Martin Strombergsson ignored their protests.
Snodgrass had a chance to level moments later but could not find a way past Slovakian keeper Matus Kozacik at the near post.
The Scots continued to threaten and Kieran Tierney sent a shot just wide, while Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie was enjoying a fair amount of space on the right.
The Slovakians continued to drop deep to frustrate the visitors and Scotland lacked the quality up front of the likes of Napoli ace Hamsik and Mak. It was Mak who went close to claiming his second when he cut in from the left before firing a shot towards the top corner, but this time Marshall was equal to it and the keeper then blocked Jan Durica’s effort from the resulting corner. Scotland were having enough possession but lacked the cutting edge of the home side and their plight got worse after 56 minutes.
Again, it was Mak who did the damage, ghosting past Russell Martin and finding the target.
Scotland desperately needed to find a way back but Barry Bannan’s shot went straight at keeper Kozacik.
But any chance Strachan’s side had of salvaging something from the game disappeared after 68 minutes and it was all too easy for Slovakia. This time Mak was the provider, swinging in a corner from the left and Nemec rose above Grant Hanley to head home and there was no way back for the Scots.