Poland head to WC, agony for Scots – Denmark clinch playoff spot

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WARSAW, Oct 8, (RTRS): Poland sealed their first World Cup spot since the 2006 tournament after an early onslaught and a late flourish, including a goal from the excellent Robert Lewandowski, gave them a 4-2 home win over Montenegro on Sunday. The result left Poland top of Group E with 25 points from 10 games, five ahead of second-placed Denmark who sealed a playoff berth after a 1-1 home draw with Romania.

The Poles thrived on the selfless work of their record scorer Lewandowski, who netted one goal and had a hand in two more on Sunday after grabbing a hat-trick in Thursday’s 6-1 away rout of Armenia.

Roared on by a packed national stadium in Warsaw awash with Poland’s red-and-white colours, the home side brushed Montenegro aside in a fast and furious opening 16 minutes.

Midfielder Krzysztof Maczynski fired them ahead in the sixth minute with a crisp finish from 10 metres as a miscued Piotr Zielinski shot fell kindly for him, after Lewandowski started a sweeping move from midfield.

The Bayern Munich striker then set up Kamil Grosicki with a clever touch in the 16th minute and the winger fired home from 12 metres after good work by Zielinski, who shook off two Montenegrin defenders to thread the ball to Lewandowski.

Montenegro missed their best chance in the first half when Vladimir Jovovic fired over the bar from 10 metres after a defensive error.

Poland were content to keep possession in the second half but got a rude awakening as the visitors scored twice in five minutes to set up a nervy finish, with the Poles at that point needing at least a draw to go through.

Substitute Stefan Mugosa pulled one back with his first touch of the ball, a spectacular overhead kick in the 78th minute, before Zarko Tomasevic equalised when he took advantage of more sloppy defending.

The silenced home crowd erupted again as Lewandowski restored Poland’s lead with an opportunist finish in the 85th minute and the home side romped to victory after Montenegro’s Filip Stojkovic turned a Grosicki cross into his own net.

The frantic late spell also produced a pair of gilt-edged chances in stoppage time as Poland hit the woodwork and then saw visiting keeper Danijel Petkovic deny Maciej Makuszewski.

Europe’s nine group winners qualify automatically for next year’s 32-team tournament in Russia while the eight best runners-up enter a two-leg playoff for the remaining four berths.

Slovenia and Scotland played out a dramatic 2-2 draw in Ljubljana on Sunday but the result ensured both sides’ World Cup dreams were extinguished as they fell short of making the playoffs.

With Slovakia, as expected, beating Malta 3-0, it left the Scots needing to win to seal a playoff spot from Group F and when Leigh Griffiths put them ahead against the run of play in the first half, they were on course to do just that.

Yet after substitute Roman Bezjak headed home a 52nd minute equaliser and coolly slotted in a second 20 minutes later, it seemed improbable Gordon Strachan’s never-say-die Scotland could find another of their familiar late surges to rescue the day.

Even though Robert Snodgrass did snatch an equaliser with three minutes left, Scotland had run out of miracles even though Slovenia’s Bostjan Cesar, on his 100th appearance, was shown a straight red card in added time.

The draw meant Scotland could only finish third in the group on 18 points, behind Slovakia only on goal difference, eight points adrift of group winners England and three points ahead of Slovenia.

The result also confirmed Northern Ireland’s place in the playoffs, as the Group C side have a better record against the teams in their section than Slovakia.

Nicklas Bendtner returned to the starting line-up to help Denmark secure second position in Group E and a place in the playoffs, winning a penalty for his side in a 1-1 draw with Romania in their final World Cup qualifier.

Manager Age Hareide gave Bendtner, currently plying his trade at Norwegian side Rosenborg, his first competitive start for almost two years and the striker repaid his coach’s faith with a lively, if sometimes ragged, display.

With group rivals Poland taking an early lead against Montenegro, the Danes knew that they could no longer win the group, but Bendtner and Pione Sisto were keen to give the sell-out crowd at the Parken Stadium their money’s worth.

Sisto let fly with a stinging shot from distance on the half-hour mark that was touched over the bar for a corner, and moments later Bendtner missed a glorious chance to put Denmark in front as his shot was blocked by a last-ditch tackle.

Shortly after, the 29-year-old former Arsenal and Juventus striker had the ball in the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Bendtner finally paved the way for the deadlock to be broken when he was pulled back in the box on the hour mark by defender Cristian Ganea as he attempted a header, and Christian Eriksen stepped up to convert the spot kick.

Ganea was sent off moments later, collecting his second yellow card for dragging down Yussuf Poulsen, but despite being down to ten men, Ciprian Deac fired home a late equaliser for Romania in the 88th minute.

Slovakia put themselves in contention for a World Cup playoff spot by beating Malta 3-0 in their final Group F game on Sunday but must now wait for other results to discover their fate.

England rounded off an unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaign with Harry Kane’s first-half penalty sealing an uninspiring 1-0 victory over Lithuania in rainy Vilnius on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate’s side topped Group F with 26 points from 10 games, eight more than second-placed Slovakia, but their comfortable progress to Russia masks a worrying lack of flair.

England enjoyed 71 percent of possession on a slick artificial surface but managed only four shots on target as they failed to penetrate a resolute home defence.

Once again it was captain Kane who made the difference – taking his goal tally to six in his last seven internationals.

He finished clinically from the spot in the 27th minute after his Tottenham Hotspur team mate Dele Alli tumbled in the area under a clumsy challenge from Ovidijus Verbickas.

There was precious little else to warm the the rain-soaked England fans who made the long trip to the tiny stadium.

“It was not a fantastic performance but solid,” Kane said. “They didn’t create many (chances), we had a few. We were missing a bit of quality really in the final third. The surface was difficult but we have to do better.”

England made seven changes from the 1-0 victory over Slovenia on Thursday that guaranteed a sixth successive World Cup qualification – that match also decided by Kane.

Two players – Tottenham’s Harry Winks and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire – were handed full international debuts by Southgate while Stoke City’s Jack Butland was given a chance to impress in goal ahead of Joe Hart.

Winks had a second-half effort well saved by Lithuania’s keeper Ernestas Setkus while substitute Daniel Sturridge’s goal-bound shot was blocked late on.

England striker Marcus Rashford occasionally sparked into life but Lithuania generally looked comfortable.

Southgate also experimented with a three-man defence but England looked uneasy at the back against a modest side who have won only one of their last 16 internationals.

Darvydas Sernas went close for the hosts early in the first half and Butland had to make a terrific save to keep out a wayward clearance from England defender Michael Keane.

England are now unbeaten in 21 World Cup qualifiers but the hard work now begins for Southgate who will get a better idea about his side’s potential in forthcoming friendlies against world champions Germany and Brazil.

“They had a packed defence, we were a fraction off with our passing,” Southgate said, repeating Kane’s assertion that England had “lacked quality in the final third.”

“It’s a completely different challenge against Brazil and Germany next month,” added the England maanger.

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