Kane saves England as Dutch and Austrians open World Cup campaigns with wins / Photo: © LEHTIKUVA/AFP
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Kane saves England as Dutch and Austrians open World Cup campaigns with wins
England kept their World Cup qualifying on track with an ugly 1-0 win while Austria and the Netherlands made belated starts to their campaigns with victories on Saturday.
Harry Kane's 72nd international goal ensured England avoided the ultimate embarrassment of failing to beat Andorra. Even so, Thomas Tuchel's side were booed off in Barcelona after struggling to impress against a team ranked 173rd in the world.
Tuchel is the first England manager to win his first three competitive games without conceding a goal.
But given the paucity of opposition provided by Andorra, Latvia and Albania in the Group K qualifiers, that achievement rings a little hollow after this miserable display.
"I'm not happy with the performance. We completely lost the momentum and couldn't get it back. We ended up in a place that was not good enough in terms of urgency," Tuchel said.
"We can just admit it that it's not what we expect from us. I was most worried in the last 20 minutes because I didn't like the attitude we ended the game with.
"I didn't like the lack of urgency. It did not match the occasion. It is still a World Cup qualifier."
England pulled five points clear after three matches in Group K as second-placed Albania drew 0-0 at home with Serbia. Rey Manaj of Albania wasted a penalty in first-half added time.
Serbia was one of three teams playing their first qualifying match Saturday after they had been involved in Nations League playoffs.
Netherlands made their debut with a crisp 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki.
Memphis Depay scored after six minutes. Denzil Dumfries, one week after his unhappy experience playing for Inter Milan in the Champions League final, added the second after 23 minutes.
Netherlands jumped to third in Group G, overtaking Lithuania and Malta who drew 0-0. The Dutch are one point behind Finland and three behind leaders Poland who did not play.
Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch scored as Austria beat Romania 2-1 in Vienna. Florin Tanase headed an added-time reply for the visitors who had squandered several chances in the closing stages.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lead Group H on nine points after Edin Dzeko scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory home over San Marino. Romania, Cyprus and Austria all have three points.
K.Lehmann--BP
