Scott McTominay on Saturday scored an injury-time winner as Scotland came from behind to claim a crucial 3-2 victory over Israel in World Cup qualifying, while England thrashed Andorra 5-0 to stay on track to reach next year’s global showpiece.
The win takes Scotland four points clear of Israel in second place in Group F with three matches remaining, as they bid to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.
Group winners qualify automatically for next year’s finals in Qatar, with the runners-up heading into the playoffs.
Photo: Reuters
Scotland trailed twice in the first half at Hampden Park to goals from PSV Eindhoven forward Eran Zahavi and Mu’nas Dabbur.
John McGinn leveled once, but home striker Lyndon Dykes missed a penalty on the stroke of halftime. He made amends before the hour mark with an equalizer, awarded following a video review after the referee initially disallowed it for a high boot.
A point would have been a decent result for Steve Clarke’s men, but the hosts pushed for a winner which arrived in the 94th minute, as Manchester United midfielder McTominay bundled in at the back post.
England manager Gareth Southgate rested key players including Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling as his second string impressed in a 5-0 thumping of Andorra.
England remain four points clear at the top of Group I after second-placed Albania won 1-0 against Hungary in Budapest.
Elsewhere, Liverpool star Sadio Mane was among the goals as Senegal cruised to a 4-1 win over Namibia, and near-certain qualification for the final World Cup elimination round in Africa.
In Casablanca, Ayoub el Kaabi scored in each half as Morocco cantered to a 3-0 Group I win over Guinea-Bissau and, like Senegal, the north Africans can punch a ticket to the final round tomorrow.
Pacesetters South Africa remain one point ahead of Ghana in Group G, after both nations achieved 3-1 victories. South Africa overcame third-placed Ethiopia in Bahir Dar, while Ghana were too good for bottom side Zimbabwe in Cape Coast.
For the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. Not one of the players involved in today’s match — PFC’s 38-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Remy Riou is almost certainly not going to be involved — was born the last time there was a Parisian derby in Ligue 1. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
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