LONDON: Kylian Mbappe set another record as France stretched their 100 per cent start in European Championship qualifying Group B with a 1-0 win over Greece in Paris.
Mbappe’s 55th-minute penalty was his 54th goal of the season and took him clear of Just Fontaine to become the top French scorer in a single club and international campaign, said German news agency (dpa).
But there was an air of fortune about his winner after Odysseas Vlachodimos palmed away his initial penalty only for the referee to spot an infringement and order the kick to be retaken.
Kolo Muani and Jules Kounde also had good chances for France while Greece’s task became harder after Konstantinos Mavropanos was sent off for a foul on Muani in the 69th minute.
In the same group Ireland took 52 minutes to break through Gibraltar’s defence before goals from Mikey Johnston, Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah secured a 3-0 win in Dublin.
In Group C, Ukraine could count themselves lucky to strengthen their hold on second place behind free-scoring England, who brushed aside North Macedonia 7-0.
The Ukrainians laboured against bottom side Malta in Trnava, and it took a fortuitous 72nd-minute penalty from Viktor Tsygankov to eke out a 1-0 win.
In Group D, Armenia also had a stroke of fortune as it took an injury-time penalty from Tigran Barseghyan to claim a 2-1 win over Latvia and build on the weekend’s stunning win over Wales in Cardiff.
There was more misery for the Welsh, who had Joe Morrell sent off and fell to a 2-0 defeat to top-placed Turkey, for whom Umut Nayir and Arda Guler scored second-half goals.
Daniel Hakans scored a hat-trick as Group H leaders Finland made it four wins out of five with a comfortable 6-0 win over San Marino.
Slovenia and Denmark shared a 1-1 draw in Ljubljana, meaning Kazakhstan jumped into second place courtesy of Abat Aymbetov’s 88th-minute strike that gave them a shock 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast.
Switzerland lost their 100 per cent record in Group I after they were pegged back by two late goals at home to Romania.
The Swiss looked set to be coasting to a fourth straight win after two first-half goals from Mohamed Amdouni.
But Romania hit back, reducing the deficit through Valentin Mihaila in the 89th minute before the same player struck again to snatch a point two minutes into injury time.
Israel retained their push for a qualifying place after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Andorra while Belarus earned their first points of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Kosovo. – BERNAMA-dpa
