Tbilisi (AFP)
Spain took full advantage of Sweden’s 2-0 loss to its host Georgia, and its 1-0 victory over its Greek counterpart, to rise to the top of Group B in the ninth round of European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
On the other hand, the Russian team swept its counterpart and its guest Cyprus by six clean, enhancing its lead in the eighth group.
La Roja, whose fifth win in the qualifiers, raised its score to 16 points in the lead, a point ahead of Sweden, which has fallen to second place, as the match between them in Seville in the last round of qualifiers on November 14, the identity of the leader, will be decided.
Luis Enrique’s men need a tie to qualify directly for the football match, while Sweden is required to win, or else it will have to go to the playoffs.
On the other hand, Greece’s balance froze at 9 points in third place, while Georgia, which played all its matches in the qualifiers, raised its score to 7 points in fourth place.
In the capital, Athens, the Spanish national team, the European Nations League runner-up, played the match in light of several absences, while coach Enrique in the middle included Manchester City players Rodri and Barcelona, Gabi, who directed him in the 65th minute and replaced his veteran colleague Sergio Busquets.
Without any surprise, “La Roja” had 79% of the ball, with a pass success rate of 93% (399), compared to 75% for Greece (80) in the first half.
Spain opened the scoring after receiving a penalty kick after Dimitrios Giannis fouled Inigo Martins after referring to the VAR technique, which was successfully translated by Pablo Sarabia, and the Portuguese Sporting player raised his international score to 5 goals in 15 matches in his country’s shirt.
The second half did not carry dangerous attacks for the two teams, to end the meeting with Spanish possession and timid attacks by Greece.
Prior to that, at Batumi Stadium in Georgia, Georgia inflicted a surprising defeat on its Swedish guest, after waiting for the second half to achieve its second victory in the qualifiers, thanks to Khvisha Kvaratskhelia, who scored two goals in the 61st and 77th minutes.
The Swedish national team paid dearly for wasting many opportunities in the first half, and the brilliance of Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Luria, who stood in front of the Swedish shots by Emil Forsberg and the headers of the veteran AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
In Group H, the Russian national team swept its counterpart and its guest Cyprus with a clean six, consolidating its lead in the group. The six goals of Russia were scored by Zenit St Petersburg players Alexander Yerokin (two goals), Andrey Mostovoy, Alexei Suturmin, Lokomotiv Moscow player Fedor Smolov, and CSKA Moscow striker Anton Zabolotoni.
With this victory, the Russian team consolidated its lead in Group H, raising its score to 22 points, while Cyprus remained at the bottom of the group with five points, and this victory is the fifth in a row for Russia and the seventh in the qualifiers.
But Croatia continued to tighten the screws on Russia when it beat its host Malta 7-1, and thus, Croatia raised its score to 20 points in second place, two points behind Russia, before one round of the end.
In another confrontation as well, Slovakia and Slovenia failed to separate them, with a 2-2 draw, and they remained in third and fourth places, respectively, with 11 points each.
For his part, the Portuguese team returned with a valuable point from Dublin and took the top of Group A with a 0-0 draw against its host Ireland, and with this draw, the Portuguese team is in the lead with 17 points, the same balance of Serbia, which will be the next rival to the comrades of Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.
With only one round remaining, Portugal will need to draw only in the upcoming match at home against Serbia to ensure direct qualification to the World Cup, given the goal difference in favor of Seleção (+12 vs. +8).
Portugal’s equalizer came despite veteran Porto defender Pepe being sent off in the 81st minute for receiving a second yellow card.
In another match in the same group, Luxembourg defeated its host Azerbaijan 3-1, which had been incomplete since the 21st minute, by sending off Taylor Mutalimov. Luxembourg advanced in the 67th minute through Troyes player Gerson Rodriguez, before Sebastian Tell added the second goal.
Azer Salehi reduced the difference for Azerbaijan, but Rodriguez finished the match with a third goal.
With this victory, Luxembourg raised its score to nine points in third place, while Azerbaijan’s balance froze at an orphan point at the bottom of the standings.
The German team, the guarantor of its qualification for the World Cup in Qatar, crushed its deficient guest Liechtenstein 9-0, despite the “Manshavs” entering the meeting with new faces, by a decision of its coach Hansi Flick, against the background of injuries and the Corona virus, which deprived the team of many of its stars.
Eight minutes after the start of the whistle, the referee sent off a red card, Jen Hoover, after a game of “Karate” on Leon Goretzka’s throat, and awarded a penalty kick, which was successfully translated by Ilkay Gundogan.
And the four-time world champions “killed” the match in 4 minutes, with three goals alternated by Daniel Kaufman through friendly fire, Leroy Sane and Marco Reus.
Sane added his second personal goal and the fifth for his team in the 49th minute of the second half, before Thomas Muller scored the sixth and eighth goals (76 and 86), while the seventh goal came through Ridley Baku (80), to conclude the scoring festival through friendly fire from Maximilian Goebel (89). ».
With his sixth consecutive victory, Flick broke the record for the best start for a German coach held by his predecessor, Joachim Loew, with 5 victories in a row.
In another historic moment on Thursday in Wolfsburg, Croatian referee Ivana Martinsic managed for the first time an international match for men, and the first for the “Manschaft”. In two other matches, Macedonia defeated Armenia 5-0, while Romania drew 0-0 with Iceland.
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