Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Winners and Losers from Thursday's Matches
Euro 2016 qualifying resumed on Thursday and produced some expected results and some not so anticipated.
At Wembley, England thumped San Marino, 5-0, while Austria picked up a 2-1 win over Moldova in Chisinau.
In one of the night’s more fascinating contests, Sweden came back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Russia, and Macedonia also erased a deficit en route to a 3-2 victory over Luxembourg.
Ukraine beat Belarus, 2-0, Lithuania edged Estonia, 1-0, and Liechtenstein and Montenegro played to a scoreless draw in some of the evening’s rather more tedious fare.
Then there were the upsets.
In Maribor, Slovenia beat Switzerland, 1-0, on a late penalty, while in Zilina, hosts Slovakia took all three points from their Group C showdown with Spain.
Following are some of the winners and losers from the night’s encounters.
Winner: Miroslav Stoch, Who Scored Slovakia’s Winner Against Spain
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An intriguing back-and-forth contest between Slovakia and Spain was decided three minutes from time when Miroslav Stoch scored a memorable winner for his side in Zilina.
Timing his goalward run to perfection, the second-half substitute arrived in perfect time to direct Juraj Kucka’s superb cross past an out-of-position Iker Casillas in the Spain goal.
Kucka had opened the scoring in the 17th minute before Paco Alcacer’s 82nd-minute equaliser.
But Stoch—a former Chelsea player—provided the heroics in Slovakia’s unlikely 2-1 win.
It was a win Kucka claimed was due to hard work.
Per UEFA, Kucka said, "Our will, heart and fighting spirit decided the game."
Loser: Iker Casillas, Who Gifted Slovakia Their Opener
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Iker Casillas made a good start to Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovakia when he denied Robert Mak with a spectacular, diving save after just 11 minutes in Zilina.
It was a stop that proved to be the high point for the goalkeeper on Thursday night.
Six minutes later, the Real Madrid icon was at fault for the game’s opening goal when his clumsy, misdirected lunge on a Juraj Kucka free-kick gifted the hosts the advantage.
He was also caught woefully out of position when Miroslav Stoch converted Kucka’s cross inside his right-hand post.
Winner: Macedonia’s Adis Jahovic, Who Scored and Assisted Against Luxembourg
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It looked as though an upset might be in the cards when Luxembourg took a 2-1 lead into the second half away to Macedonia.
But shortly after the hour mark, Macedonia winger Besart Abdurahimi was fouled by Chris Philipps inside the area, and Adis Jahovic restored level terms from the spot.
Jahovic, who plays his club football in Russia with Krylia Sovetov, then set up Abdurahimi for the stoppage-time winner as Macedonia responded to their 5-1 defeat to Spain on Sept. 8 with an important win.
Loser: Johan Djourou, Whose Foul Cost Switzerland at Least a Point
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Switzerland are now winless from two matches in Euro 2016 qualifying, although they should have claimed at least a point on Thursday against Slovenia.
Having largely dominated proceedings (they took 15 shots to Slovenia’s six, as per ESPN FC), the Swiss nevertheless found themselves in a world of trouble 10 minutes from time when defender Johan Djourou fouled Kevin Kampl inside the visitors’ 18-yard box.
Milivoje Novakovic stepped up and beat goalkeeper Yann Sommer from 12 yards, and Slovenia went on to win the match, 1-0.
They’ll next face unbeaten Lithuania in Vilnius.
Winner: Samir Handanovic, Who Was Heroic for Slovenia
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Samir Handanovic made eight saves on Thursday to help Slovenia to an improbable 1-0 win over Switzerland.
In the 14th minute, the Inter Milan goalkeeper denied Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal-bound effort, and his punch to Ricardo Rodriguez’s cross in second-half stoppage time allowed his side to go on and secure the three points.
Crucially, the 30-year-old was also helped out by the woodwork when Haris Seferovic hit the upright just prior to the half-hour mark.
Winner: Adam Lallana, Who Impressed After Coming on as a Substitute
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Despite their possession and overwhelming territorial advantage, England lacked fluidity at times against San Marino, with Jack Wilshere in particular giving the ball away with alarming frequency in the centre of midfield.
But the Three Lions finally started to roar after the restart, which happened to be when Adam Lallana was introduced as a substitute for Raheem Sterling.
The Liverpool man was a creative, motivated force in the second half, and he should have been credited with a goal when his redirection of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot was incorrectly disallowed for offside.
Nevertheless, Lallana may have well done enough to earn a starting place against Estonia on Sunday.
