Scotland falls in Seville, Norway poker in Cyprus. Türkiye’s coup in Croatia. Albania three-peat and closest qualification. Ok Poland and Kosovo, equal between Belarus and Romania
Away win and first place in the standings: Vincenzo Montella’s debut on the Turkey bench is worth remembering. Calhanoglu and his teammates achieved a 1-0 success at Croatia, moving to +3 over coach Dalic’s team. First points for Latvia (2-0 against Armenia), while Spain struggled against Scotland, but in the end won 2-0 (goals from Morata and Sancet) and moved to -3 from the top of group A. They also won Haaland’s Norway (double), Albania and Poland, respectively playing against Cyprus, the Czech Republic and the Faroe Islands. Finally, in Group I, Kosovo beat Andorra 3-0 and Belarus drew (0-0) with Romania.
group a
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Lots of ball possession, few scoring opportunities. Captain Morata’s Spain hits the wall of Scotland, who enters the match in Seville with a compact and well-placed 5-4-1. The guests never attack, but at the same time they don’t concede sensational chances. In the second half Ferran Torres and the substitute Zaragoza tried to create numerical superiority with some flashes on the flanks, but in the 60th minute Scotland took the lead with a free kick from McTominay. After an on field review, the goal was disallowed due to a foul on the goalkeeper: Spain breathed a sigh of relief and, after 12 minutes, took the lead through Morata. De La Fuente’s move thus proved to be a good one, as he brought on the 37-year-old Navas in the 67th minute. Five minutes pass and the Sevilla captain exalts himself with the home specialty: fake cross, swerve and pocket for Alvaro, who makes no mistake with his header and gives La Roja 3 points. In the final, the Scots made a mess and Spain even found an encore, with the newly substitute Sancet emerging into the six yard area and hitting Gunn from close range. Looking at the table, Haaland’s Norway is -2 behind the Spaniards, victorious 4-0 in Cyprus. In the first half the City striker receives few playable balls, so the 1-0 comes with a curling shot from the edge of Sorloth. In the second half, however, the usual Erling rose to 27 goals in 27 appearances with the national team. In the 65th minute he twists in on himself and hurls the ball into the net following the development of a corner, in the 72nd minute he doubles the lead with a header. At the end Benfica’s Aursnes also celebrates, beating the opposing goalkeeper after a series of rebounds in the area.
group d
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A debut worth remembering for Vincenzo Montella, who made his debut on the Turkey bench, winning a victory in Croatia. Coach Dalic focuses on the old guard in midfield and on the “Italians” in attack: Modric, Brozovic and Kovacic support the restarts of Pasalic and Brekalo, lined up as starters, wide in the trident. The Turks suffer from the quality of the hosts, but they prove solid in the defensive phase and ruthless in attack. The man of the match is the center forward Baris Yilmaz, who on the half hour is served deep, escapes the defenders and, face to face with Livakovic, makes it 1-0 with a lob. Croatia did not give up and, especially in the second half, launched an assault on the opponent’s area. Nothing to be done, however, for Petkovic and his teammates, who lost 1-0 and slipped to second place in the group, -3 behind Calhanoglu and his teammates. First points in group D also for Latvia, who beat Armenia 2-0 in the 6pm match, scoring a goal in each half: first Ikaunieks and then Balodis knocked out Petrakov’s team, unable to react despite 40 minutes of numerical superiority, dictated by Oss’ expulsion in the 52nd minute.
group e
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The Albanians of Italy continue to amaze. Committed to the match against the Czech Republic, Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Asani, Ramadani, Bajrami and Asllani started and won 3-0. In the 9th minute Asani broke the deadlock with a great shot from distance, in the 40th minute the Czechs were left with ten men due to a handball in the area by Chytil, who was already booked. The expulsion is felt especially in the second half, when Seferi goes wild and scores a brace: in the 51st minute he takes advantage of a wrong stop from Cikalleshi to steal the ball and pierce Pavlenka, while in the 73rd minute he scores a hat trick by pushing a millimeter cross into the net by Daku. Albania is now +4 on Poland, which wins 2-0 at home to the Faroe Islands. Szczesny, Zielinski and Milik are the starters, but the heroes of the day are Szymanski and Buksa who score a goal in each half. The Fenerbahçe midfielder opens the ball in the 4th minute with a curling shot from the edge of the area, the center forward closes the game with an easy header in the 65th minute.
group i
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Romania did not go beyond a 0-0 draw away to Belarus. Kosovo, on the other hand, had fun in Andorra and won 3-0 thanks to the play of captain Rashica. In the 26th minute the Kosovars took the lead with a diagonal pass from the number 7, who easily freed himself from Llovera’s mark and beat Iker with his left foot. In the second half Rashica again takes advantage of a rebound to seal the 2-0 tap-in, then debutant Zeqiri closes the match by passing the ball under the goalkeeper’s legs.
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