Wayne Rooney celebrated his 100th appearance for England by scoring in a 3-1 win over Slovenia, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a goal in his return for Sweden in a 1-1 draw at Montenegro in European Championship qualifiers Saturday.
Along with England’s fourth win in as many games, San Marino ended its streak of 61 losses by tying 0-0 against Estonia in Group E.
Defending champion Spain won 3-0 at home over Belarus, but Slovakia remained atop Group C with a 2-0 victory at Macedonia.
Austria strengthened its hold on Group G after beating Russia 1-0, with Sweden four points back.
Along with England’s fourth win in as many games, San Marino ended its streak of 61 losses by tying 0-0 against Estonia in Group E.
Defending champion Spain won 3-0 at home over Belarus, but Slovakia remained atop Group C with a 2-0 victory at Macedonia.
Austria strengthened its hold on Group G after beating Russia 1-0, with Sweden four points back.
Ibrahimovic, who missed two qualifiers during a seven-week injury layoff, scored in the ninth minute and hit the post later before Montenegro’s Stefan Jovetic tied it from the penalty spot in the 80th.
Jordan Henderson’s own goal put Slovenia in front in the 58th minute, but Rooney earned and scored the penalty kick a minute later and Danny Welbeck helped England put it away.
Welbeck scored in the 66th and 72nd minutes as England moved six points clear of Slovenia, Switzerland and Lithuania. Estonia has four points while San Marino is last.
San Marino, the world’s lowest-ranked team, got its first-ever point in European Championship qualifying after holding out against Estonia at home.
The Swiss beat visiting Lithuania 4-0, with Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice.
Midfielder Francisco “Isco” Alarcon made the most of his fifth appearance for Spain in place of the injured Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.
Isco stood out in Spain’s strong start in the southern city of Huelva. He curled in a right-footed shot in the 18th after Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion intercepted the ball.
Sergio Busquets’ deflected shot from long range went into the goal less than a minute later, and Pedro Rodriguez made it 3-0 in the 55th after Juanfran Torres broke down the right side of Belarus’ defense.
Slovakia used first-half goals by Juraj Kucka and Adam Nemec to earn its fourth win in as many games.
Andriy Yarmolenko scored three times in Ukraine’s 3-0 win at Luxembourg. Ukraine and Spain are tied with nine points apiece.
Macedonia has three points, and Belarus and Luxembourg each have one point.
Substitute Rubin Okotie scored in Austria’s 1-0 victory over Russia, moving his team a step closer to qualifying for a European Championship for the first time. (AP)
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Articles by Korea Herald