The big news: Slovenia held by Joe Hart

England’s Joe Hart came to his team’s rescue as they were held to a goalless draw by Slovenia. Interim manager Gareth Southgate would not have been pleased with England’s performance as the team failed to replicate the form they had shown against Malta.

Hart was at his best as he pulled out some amazing saves to prevent England from losing to a side ranked 67th in the World. Hart denied Josip Ilicic twice, but the highlight was a world-class save when he turned Jasmin Kurtic's header on to the crossbar seconds after halftime. Slovenia were the better team and deserved to win, while England were lucky with the score sheet reading 0-0.

Other top stories

  1. World champions Germany beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in their World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday. Goals from Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira in the first half ensured that Germany had smooth sailing throughout the match and cemented their top spot in the table.
  2. Poland captain Robert Lewandowski proved his worth once again as he scored a stoppage-time winner to take his team to a 2-1 win against 10-man Armenia. Lewandowski scored for the eighth consecutive qualifier and three days after his hat-trick secured a 3-2 win against Denmark. In another qualifying match, Denmark were stunned 1-0 by Montenegro.
  3. Steve Bruce is set to be named as the new manager of Aston Villa on Wednesday. Bruce left Hull City in July and will succeed Roberto di Matteo, who was sacked on October 3, at Villa Park. Bruce was interviewed for the England job before Sam Allardyce was appointed in July.
  4. Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne could make a comeback from injury quicker than expected as his hamstring is healing faster. De Bruyne has a chance of being available for Manchester City’s league meeting with Everton on Saturday and the Belgian forward will undergo a late fitness test ahead the clash. He could also be fit for the trip to Barcelona on Wednesday next week for City’s third Champions League clash of the season.
  5. Real Madrid will be adding a retractable roof to the Santiago Bernabéu after reaching an agreement with the city to remodel the stadium. Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, said the project will cost €400m and construction is expected to start next year and will be completed by 2020.
  6. Brazil beat Venezuela 2-0 in their World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday. Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Willian stunned Venezuela in an encounter that had seen a blackout for a few minutes owing to the weather conditions.
  7. Luis Suarez scored an equaliser to help Uruguay draw 2-2 against Colombia in their World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday. Suarez's strike was his 19th in World Cup qualifiers to help his team remain on top of the points table despite the draw.
  8. Argentina were stunned 1-0 at home by Paraguay as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero missed a penalty kick. Derlis Gonzalez scored the winner for Paraguay and Aguero missed the spot kick soon after.
  9. Atletico de Kolkata managed to draw against 10-man Mumbai City in their Indian Super League clash on Tuesday. Matias Defederico's strike gave Mumbai the lead in the first half, but Kolkata’s Javi Lara hit the equaliser as the match finished 1-1. Mumbai’s Pronay Halder was handed a second yellow and sent off for the night.
  10. India lost to China 1-0 in the BRICS Under-17 tournament at the Bambolim Stadium in Goa on Tuesday. India were close to earning a goalless draw, when China’s Huang Cong scored the winner in a superbly played out counter-attack.