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England come back to beat Slovenia

Jefferson ChaseNovember 15, 2014

Germany and Greece aren't the only European footballing nations that had difficulties against easy competition in this round of Euro 2016 qualifiers. England, for instance, needed to fight back to handle Slovenia.

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England - Slovenia
Image: Reuters/Plunkett

A scoreless first half at Wembley Stadium in London had supporters fearing that the Three Lions were once more about to metamorphose into pussy cats on the international stage. And when the underdogs went up on a Jordan Henderson own goal in minute 57, the early slew of qualifiers seemed as though it might yield a massive upset.

Fortunately for lovers of Albion, Wayne Rooney won and then converted a penalty just two minutes later to level the score and calm the hosts' nerves. And Danny Welbeck scored a brace to avert humiliation and seal a 3-1 win.

"We could have done better before they went 1-0 up but I think after that it really woke us up," Rooney told reporters after the game.

That result keeps England on top of Group E with a perfect 12 points from four matches. But their performance on the pitch was anything but perfect, and a come-from-behind win at home against Slovenia won't convince anyone that happy days are here again for the Three Lions.

Elsewhere, in Saturday's early action, Austria took command at the top of Group G with a 1-0 home win over Russia. Substitute Rubin Rafael Okotie scored the lone goal in that match in minute 73. Tiny Liechtenstein got their first win in the group, with a 1-0 away victory over Moldova - Franz Burgmeier found the net in that contest.

The clearest winners of the early evening were Ukraine, who got a 3-0 victory in Luxembourg and kept their bid to qualify from Group C on track. Estonia will be disappointed after only getting a scoreless draw against San Marino.

Spain get easy win

Spain versus Belarus
Spain got back on trackImage: Reuters/Pozo

In the late action, Spain - still smarting from their early World Cup exit and having already lost to Slovakia in Group C - got a welcome walk in the park against Belarus.

Isco and Sergio Busquets scored goals within a minute of another in the first half for the Spaniards. Pedro added a bit of insurance after the interval, completing the 3-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile Slovakia stayed top of the group with a 2-0 away win over Macedonia.

Switzerland moved into second in group E with a handy 4-0 win over Lithuania. Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri found the net twice for the Swiss.

And in perhaps Saturday's biggest surprise, Sweden were held to a 1-1 draw away in Montenegro. A Stevan Jovetic penalty ten minutes from time cancelled out a Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal in minute 9. The result leaves Sweden trailing both Austria and Russia in group G.