(Football news) In order to maintain their position as the second-place qualifier in Group B, behind France, Ronald Koeman’s Dutch team had to come back against a tenacious Ireland team.
They are tied for third place on points with Greece, who defeated Gibraltar 5-0 despite playing an additional match. Adam Idah’s penalty kick against Virgil van Dijk in the first five minutes stunned the Netherlands. The penalty was given for handball.
However, Ireland’s momentum was stopped in the 19th minute when Denzel Dumfries was tackled by the opponent’s custodian Gavin Bazunu as a result of a Matt Doherty error.
Cody Gakpo came forward to convert the penalty kick and score twice during the break in international play. Before halftime, Bazunu made a fine save to stop a shot from Donyell Malen, but the Netherlands finally score in the 56th minute when Weghorst headed in a cross from Dumfries.
With only three games remaining, Ireland is still fourth in the standings, six points behind the Netherlands. They were unable to muster a late comeback to even the score. With a 2-0 defeat in Tirana, Poland’s quest to advance to a sixth consecutive European Championship took another hit.
With two points more than the Czech Republic and surprise package Moldova, Albania went to the top of Group E, while Poland fell to third place with two more points.
With a superb left-footed strike from outside the right side of the area, Jasir Asani, who plays club football for Gwangju in South Korea, set Albania on their road to a decisive victory.
A second goal by Mirlind Daku shortly after the hour mark completed the three-point victory. With a 1-0 victory over the Faroe Islands in their first qualifier since upsetting Poland in June, Moldova continued their incredible campaign to qualify in the other game of the group.
With a 1-0 victory over Finland on the road, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s goal in the 86th minute, Denmark—semifinalists at Euro 2020—took a significant step towards qualifying from Group H.
The Danes moved up a point above their defeated opponents into second place, level with Slovenia after their 4-0 victory over San Marino.
“The goal was a relief and this was a very important win for us. Finland are a good team and they did not make it easy for us,” said Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand.
After Kazakhstan defeated Northern Ireland 1-0 to keep their hopes of qualifying for a first-ever major tournament alive, the top four teams in the group are only separated by a single point.
In a 3-1 victory over Lithuania, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a hat-trick to help Serbia maintain their qualification for the German championships the following year.
With a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria, Stevan Jovetic’s goal in the final minute of regulation has maintained Montenegro within two points of Serbia in second place in Group G.
Also read: Spain thrash Cyprus 6-0 in the Euro Qualifiers
