Germany perfect, England held, Montenegro top
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Article summary
Germany scored two early goals to beat Northern Ireland and remain perfect after three games but England were held for the first time as Montenegro and Azerbaijan maintain great starts.
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Article body
- Germany get third victory from three while Azerbaijan are still unbeaten
- Montenegro win in Denmark and Poland prevail against Armenia late in added time
- England's perfect start ends with draw in Slovenia while Slovakia beat Scotland
- Next games in these groups on Friday 11 November
Group C
Germany 2-0 Northern Ireland
Goals in five first-half minutes from Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira kept up the FIFA World Cup holders' perfect start and breached Northern Ireland's defence for the first time in the group. Northern Ireland, whose goalkeeper Michael McGovern had not conceded more than one goal in any of his 17 previous internationals, are third, five points off the lead.
Czech Republic 0-0 Azerbaijan
Having already made history by winning their first two qualifiers, Azerbaijan came away from Ostrava with a point. Azerbaijan, for whom Kamran Agayev was superb between the posts, are yet to let in a goal in the section and duly sit second, two points behind Germany and five in front of the Czechs.
Norway 4-1 San Marino
Substitutes Adama Diomande, Martin Samuelsen and Joshua King struck in the last 14 minutes to get Norway off the mark and deny San Marino a first World Cup qualifying away point in more than 15 years. Mattia Stefanelli's equaliser was their first World Cup qualifying away goal since a 1-1 draw in Latvia on 25 April 2001. Davide Simoncini put an own goal past twin brother Aldo.
Group E
Poland 2-1 Armenia
Robert Lewandowski headed in deep into added time to secure his run of scoring in eight straight qualifiers and keep Poland in joint pole position in the group. Armenia were reduced to ten men in the first half but, after falling behind to an own goal in the 48th minute, promptly equalised through Marcos Pizzelli.
Denmark 0-1 Montenegro
Montenegro are level with Poland, and two points clear of Romania, at the top of the section after Fatos Bećiraj netted in the 32nd minute to end their five-match winless away run. Denmark are still on three points after their second defeat in a week.
Kazakhstan 0-0 Romania
Romania made it 15 qualifying group games unbeaten yet were unable to take advantage of their superiority in Astana. Samat Smakov captained Kazakhstan on his 75th and final international appearance.
Group F
Slovenia 0-0 England
Wayne Rooney was left out of the starting line-up and then brought on, but England were unable to extend their perfect opening to the group and were ultimately grateful for a string of fine saves by Joe Hart. The stalemate keeps them two points ahead of Slovenia and Lithuania at the top of the pool.
Slovakia 3-0 Scotland
Slovakia are off the mark after two goals from Róbert Mak and a header by Adam Nemec halted Scotland's unbeaten start. Scotland will hope for better when they visit England on 11 November.
Lithuania 2-0 Malta
It took until the 76th minute for Fiodor Černych to break through and set Lithuania on the way to victory. After Malta were reduced to ten men, Arvydas Novikovas converted a penalty to follow up unbeaten Lithuania's draw in Scotland on Saturday.