EURO qualifying: England and France win, Portugal held
Monday, March 25, 2019
Article summary
England and France both won comfortably, but European champions Portugal were held.
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Article body
- England score five for second game in a row
- World champions France put four past Iceland
- Portugal held by Serbia, Turkey beat Moldova
- Standings; next qualifiers take place in June
- Watch highlights from 24:00CET on Tuesday
GROUP A
Montenegro 1-5 England
England scored five in consecutive games for the first time since 1984 as they came from behind to win in Podgorica. Marko Vešović gave the hosts the lead, but Michael Keane soon headed the visitors level. Ross Barkley struck either side of the break, with in-form pair Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling adding further gloss.
Kosovo 1-1 Bulgaria
Kosovo secured a point on their EURO qualifying debut to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games. Bulgaria took a first-half lead when Vasil Bozhikov headed in from a corner, but Arber Zeneli rescued the debutants with a powerful long-range strike.
GROUP B
Portugal 1-1 Serbia
Danilo scored a spectacular equaliser shortly before half-time as Portugal, who lost Cristiano Ronaldo to injury after half an hour, were held to a second successive home draw. Serbia open their campaign with a point thanks to Dušan Tadić's early penalty.
Luxembourg 1-2 Ukraine
Ukraine completed an unlikely comeback courtesy of Gerson Rodrigues' added-time own goal. The hosts had led through Dave Turpel's close-range finish, but Andriy Shevchenko's men were soon level via Viktor Tsygankov's neat strike.
GROUP H
France 4-0 Iceland
Olivier Giroud moved into third place on his own in France's all-time scoring charts with his 35th international strike. Samuel Umtiti's header had given the world champions an early advantage, with Kylian Mbappé adding the third before setting up Antoine Griezmann with an audacious back-heel for the fourth.
Turkey 4-0 Moldova
Cenk Tosun scored a goal in each half as Turkey cruised to their second straight win without conceding. Hasan Ali Kaldırım and Kaan Ayhan also found the net, both opening their senior international accounts.
Andorra 0-3 Albania
Albania secured their first win of the campaign in Ervin Bulku's maiden game in charge. Armando Sadiku opened the scoring after a defensive mix-up, with substitutes Bekim Balaj and Amir Abrashi both getting in on the act late on.
