Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Belgium ran riot last night and are now just one win away from qualification to next summer’s World Cup in Russia. Last night it was Gibraltar who had a night to forget as Roberto Martinez’s men put nine past the qualification minnows.
It is the latest in a long line of hammerings for the Gibraltarian’s and you do have to ask yourself whether or not their whole entry into the realm of international football has been worthwhile. The counter argument is that all nations have to start somewhere.
But with such a limited player pool you wonder just exactly the scope for improvement will come from, it was certainly a night for them to forget in Brussels as the Belgian’s showed just how dominant they can be with their star studded line up.
There were five different scorers last night. Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku continued his impressive early season form with a hat-trick while Thomas Meunier would have to fight him for the match ball after he also picked up a trio of goals.
While Dries Mertens, Axel Witsel and Eden Hazard all scored before the break as the Belgians went into the 15 minute rest already 6-0 ahead. The second half was slightly more respectable as Gibraltar only conceded three more goals but it was a harsh lesson learned against one of the European big boys
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Greece dropped two points in their bid to win the group and will now be looking over their shoulder to keep hold of the Group H play-off spot. They were held to a stalemate with Estonia in Piraeus and you have to wonder just how costly that could be come the end of qualification.
However it is now a three way fight for that play-off berth as Cyprus have blown the group wide open after their victory over Bosnia last night in Nicosia. Not only that but they did so from two goals down. Bosnia were sitting pretty after going into the break two goals up.
But after the restart Cyprus led a spirited comeback which would eventually see them snatch all three points. Goals from Demetris Christofi, Vincent Laban and Pieros Sotiriou turned the game on its head and the landscape in Group H looks a whole lot different this morning.
Here are the highlights
