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UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying round-up: Mixed bag for UK nations in action, Holland bag win over rivals

Writer's picture: Andrew ZarbAndrew Zarb

Frenkie de Jong celebrates equalising against Germany in an eventual 4-2 win for the Netherlands.

Results: Group C Estonia 1 Belarus 2 Germany 2 Netherlands 4

Group E Slovakia 0 Croatia 4 Wales 2 Azerbaijan 1

Group G Austria 6 Latvia 0 Slovenia 2 Poland 0

Group I Cyprus 1 Kazakhstan 1 San Marino 0 Belgium 4 Scotland 1 Russia 2

Round-up: The Euro 2020 qualifiers continued on Friday, and there was one stand-out match, as Germany hosted the Netherlands. Serge Gnabry gave the Germans the lead after just 9 minutes, before then Netherlands equalised in the 59th minute thanks to Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, and they then went in front seven minutes later thanks to a Jonathan Tah own goal. Germany were then given a chance to get back level when they were awarded a controversial penalty after Matthijs de Ligt was deemed to have handled the ball in the penalty area, and Toni Kroos stepped up to convert it. That decision however, did not deter the Dutch, as in the 78th minute youngster Donyell Malen, on as a substitute for his first ever senior international cap, put Netherlands back in front before Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum then wrapped up the win in the 90th minute. There was another match in their group which took place earlier, as Belarus defeated Estonia 2-1 thanks to a 90th minute winner from Maksim Skavysh, after Estonia's Erik Sorga had cancelled out Nikita Naumov's earlier goal. In one of the most balanced groups of the qualifiers, two matches took place. World Cup finalists in 2018, Croatia recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over Slovakia thanks to goals from Nikola Vlasic, Bayern Munich winger Ivan Perisic, Bruno Petkovic and Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren. The other match played in this group involved Wales and Azerbaijan, in which Maltese referee Trustin Farrugia Cann took charge, as Wales recorded an unconvincing 2-1 win over their opponents. In what was a match which lacked quality, Wales went in front in the 26th minute thanks to a Pavel Pashayev own goal, before Azerbaijan equalised in the 58th minute thanks to Mahir Emreli. It looked like Wales' automatic qualification hopes were going to take a massive dent in what would have been a very disappointing result to say the least, however, in the 84th minute it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man as star player Gareth Bale headed the ball into net to give Wales the victory. After Israel and North Macedonia played out a 1-1 draw yesterday, there were 2 other matches which took place in Group G. Austria recorded a very comfortable 6-0 victory over a poor Latvia side thanks to a brace from Marko Arnautovic, as well as goals from Marcel Sabitzer, Konrad Laimer, Michael Gergoritsch in addition to an own goal from Pavels Steinhors. In what was arguably a surprise result, Slovenia won 2-0 at home to group leaders Poland thanks to goals from Aljaz Struna and Andraz Sporar. There was other nation from the United Kingdom, in action tonight, however their result contrasted with that of Wales, as Scotland ultimately fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Russia, a result which seriously dents their hopes of automatic qualification. It was actually the Scots who went in front, as Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn scored in the 11th minute of the game. After a good start to the match, Scotland started defending deeper and Russia were piling on the pressure, and the Russians were rewarded as striker Artem Dzyuba equalised five minutes before half-time. Russia continued to dominate in the second half, and they went in front thanks to a Sean O'Donnell own goal. The team currently top of the FIFA World Rankings, Belgium secured a comfortable 4-0 win over minnows San Marino thanks to a Michy Batshuayi brace which was sandwiched by goals from Dries Mertens and Nacer Chadli. There was one match of the group which took place earlier on in the day, as Kazakhstan and Cyprus took a share of the spoils as Pieros Sotiriou cancelled out Aleksey Shchotkin's second minute goal for the Kazakhs.

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