Agence France Presse
Paris, Sept 5: Mario Goetze scored twice in a 3-1 win over Poland which put Germany top in their group as Northern Ireland moved closer to the Euro 2016 finals by beating the Faroe Islands 3-1.
Georgia’s 1-0 home win over Scotland, whom Germany play in Glasgow Monday, and the Republic of Ireland’s 4-0 thumping of Gibraltar means Germany are top with 16 points with Poland second on 14 while Ireland go third with 12, one ahead of the Scots.
All four goals came from Bayern Munich players as Thomas Mueller gave Germany an early lead, then Goetze made it 2-0 before Poland captain Robert Lewandowski pulled one back with a diving header for 2-1 at the break. Mueller and Goetze then combined for Germany’s third on 82 minutes.
A double from captain Robbie Keane, which took his international tally to 67, and goals from Cyrus Christie and Shane Long saw the Republic of Ireland past Gibraltar in Faro. Martin O’Neill’s side next plays Georgia in Dublin Monday.
In Group F, Northern Ireland are just one victory away from their first European championship final as they sit top with 16 points, one point ahead of Romania who were held to a goalless draw in Hungary.
Two goals from Gareth McAuley and a third from Kyle Lafferty sealed the victory with the Faroe Islands hit by Joan Edmundsson’s sending off of after 64 minutes for a second bookable offence.
The Northern Irish will qualify if they beat Hungary Monday night at Windsor Park.
Finland came away with a 1-0 win from Greece in a match between two teams struggling in Group F.
In Group I, Portugal were the big winners despite not playing a qualifier after group rivals Denmark and Albania played a 0-0 draw in Copenhagen.
Portugal lead the group with 12 points, one point ahead of Albania and Denmark.
Albania host Portugal Monday with the Scandinavians travelling to modest Armenia who lost 2-0 at Serbia and are at the bottom of the table after being deducted three points.
