England and Germany move closer to World Cup qualification
| AP Photo


England had to come from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1 at Wembley on Monday, while Germany thrashed Norway 6-0 in a one-sided World Cup 2018 qualifier, with both teams closing in on a place in Russia.

Marcus Rashford's error allowed Slovakia to open the scoring but he set up Eric Dier and scored the winner to keep England top of Group F on 20 points, five points clear of Slovakia, while Scotland beat Malta 2-0 and Slovenia saw off Lithuania 4-0 to keep in close pursuit, both on 14 points.

Germany dominated in Stuttgart with Timo Werner striking twice in their rout of Norway which sees them move onto 24 points in Group C with a 100 per cent record.

Second placed Northern Ireland beat Czech Republic 2-0 to confirm they will at least qualify for the play-offs, while Azerbaijan hammered San Marino 5-1.

Stevan Jovetic's 75th minute strike earned Montenegro a 1-0 win over Romania, enough to keep them level with Denmark on 16 points in Group E, after the Danes crushed Armenia 4-1.

Leaders Poland moved onto 19 points with a comfortable 3-0 win over Kazakhstan thanks to goals from Arkadiusz Milik, Kamil Glik and a Robert Lewandowski penalty.