Mexico erased years of pain in Ohio as veteran defender Rafael Marquez smashed a late winner to give them a 2-1 win against rivals USA in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. England, meanwhile, managed to steer clear of any hiccups against their old rivals, Scotland, beating them 3-0 at Wembley.
The ugly side of football came to the surface in Bucharest in the Poland-Romania match, with flares and fireworks almost harming some of the players. English Premier League stars Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba’s goals bailed France out against Sweden, handing them a 2-1 win.
World champions Germany ran riot against minnows San Marino with a second-string team, registering a thumping 8-0 win.
USA 1-2 Mexico
The result was too tempting for some social media aficionados to refrain from making any references to new USA president Donald Trump and his slanderous comments on Mexico, who took the lead in the game with Miguel Layun by scoring in the 20th minute. Bobby Wood equalised for the home side in the second half. Marquez punished a lax USA defence in the final minute to head the ball home.
England beat Scotland 3-0
Scotland started with so much promise and former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher nearly got on the scoresheet with a long-range try. England held on and took the lead through Daniel Sturridge in the 26th minute, heading home a cross from right-back Kyle Walker.
In the second half, Danny Rose’s accurate cross from the left was converted by Adam Lalllana. Skipper Wayne Rooney also delivered a terrific ball – from a corner – and Gary Cahill smashed the ball home.
Germany 8-0 San Marino
San Marino lost their sixth consecutive international match while Germany maintained their unblemished record in the World Cup qualifiers, winning four from as many games. Former Arsenal winger Serge Gnarby bagged a hat-trick. It was Sami Khedira who set the team on course with a seventh-minute strike.
France beat Sweden 2-1
It was a year since the gruesome Paris attacks and France paid tribute to the victims with a win, surviving a scare to slam two goals in the space of seven minutes. Payet and Pogba provided the goals for Didier Deschamps’s side
Lewandowski’s narrow escape, Poland beat Romania 3-0
Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski as flare thrown by the hostile fans in Romania’s Bucharest exploded close to him, stalling play for several minutes early in the second half. There was crowd trouble towards the end of the first half too as flares and fireworks continued to be hurled by rowdy elements in the crowd.
Lewandowski smarted from the incident and slammed to late goals, one from the penalty spot, as Poland ran out 3-0 winners.
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