Story highlights
England struggle to beat Slovakia
Poland squander 2-0 lead
England left it until the last minute to beat 10-man Slovakia in the opening game of the World Cup qualifiers.
Adam Lallana scored the winner – his first for the national team – with a weak shot that crept through the goalkeeper’s legs in the final moments of stoppage time at Trnava.
But the first game under new manager Sam Allardyce will have done little to encourage England fans hoping to see a side rejuvenated after a dismal campaign in the Euros in the summer, culminating in a shock defeat to Iceland.
England’s fans underwhelmed
England’s draw was widely derided on Twitter as England struggled to overcome a Slovakian side that was reduced to 10 men when Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel was sent off early in the second half after a second yellow card for stamping on England striker Harry Kane.
England struggled to break down the Slovakian defense and it wasn’t until the 64th minute that any kind of effort hit the target.
The performance also prompted a sarcastic tweet from former England captain and TV sport presenter Gary Lineker who said: “Massive step forward for England. After losing to Iceland we’ve now beaten a country with 15 times their population. We’re back!”
The evening was a struggle for Poland too. It could only draw 2-2 away at Kazakhstan after squandering a two-goal lead. Bartosz Kapustka and Robert Lewandowski put Poland into a comfortable lead at half time but Sergey Khiznichenko scored twice in the second half to level the match.
There were no surprises in the later kick-offs with Germany easily beating Norway 3-0 and Scotland crushing Malta 5-1 with help from a Robert Snodgrass hat-trick.
The Czech Republic held Northern Ireland to a goalless draw, and San Marino – so often the whipping boys in international matches – only lost by a single goal to Azerbaijan.
Denmark beat Armenia by a goal to nil and Lithuania drew 2-2 with Slovenia.
