Seven things you might have missed as Uefa’s Nations League group stages conclude

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The Uefa Nations League group stage came to a close on Tuesday with 14 teams involved in the final night’s action.

In League A’s dead rubber, final four hosts Portugal welcomed already relegated Poland, while League B saw Sweden and Russia battle for their promotion spot.

Three fixtures in League C saw Romania travel to Montenegro, Scotland host Israel and Serbia face Lithuania will all games having something on the line.

And in League D there was another dead rubber between Malta and Faroe Islands, while Kosovo took on Azerbaijan for promotion and the hallowed Euro 2020 play-offs spot.

But what went down in the seven fixtures, and what action might you have missed across the night?

1. Kosovo soothe nerves early to secure momentous win

What a moment for Kosovo! The national team who were only awarded membership of Uefa in 2016, are now just three games away from qualifying for Euro 2020.

With so much on the line against Azerbaijan, you could have forgiven Kosovo for being overwhelmed knowing a draw would be enough for them to top League D3 earning promotion to League C for the 2020 Nations League.

But they were anything but nervous with Arber Zeneli giving them the lead after just two minutes, as his shot from outside the box beat the goalkeeper and went into the bottom right corner of the net.

The Kosovars only grew after the goal and doubled their lead five minutes into the second half, with Zeneli getting his second to send the home fans delirious in Pristina. But that wasn’t enough for them with Amir Rrahmani scoring a third heading in from a set piece before Zeneli completed his hat-trick.

2. Poland draw puts Germany in Pot 2

Germany have had a torrid 2018 and it has been capped off by confirmation they will be in Pot 2 for the European Championship qualifying draw.

The seeding for the Euro draw, which will take place in December, is based on where teams finish in the Nations League. The 10 highest ranked teams, working from League A downwards, are placed in Pot 1, 11-20 in Pot 2 and so on until Pot 6 is filled with teams ranked 51-55.

Germany ended their group on 2 points, level with Poland follow their draw against Portugal. But the latter’s slightly better goal difference on -2 compared to -3 means they finish as the 10th highest ranked team in League A, dropping Germany down into Pot 2.

3. James Forrest hat-trick sees Scotland close in on major tournament return

Less than a week ago, things looked bleak for Scottish football, with Alex McLeish’s men needing two wins from their final two games to gain promotion to League B and the matches looking tough.

But Scotland have shown just what they can produce in those two matches, first putting Albania to the sword with a 4-0 win away from home before seeing off group leaders Israel 3-2 thanks to a James Forrest hat-trick.

Things started poorly for Scotland as Beram Kayal gave the visitors the lead after nine minutes, but this only seemed to spur the home side on – Forrest in particular.

The Celtic forward first reacted quickly to a rebound inside the area, to draw Scotland level and put them ahead just before half-time having been played in well by Ryan Christie.

Forrest got his third with less than 30 minutes to goal, showing composure inside the area once again to become the first Celtic player to score a hat-trick for Scotland since Jimmy Quinn did so against Ireland 110 years ago.

As well as promotion, Scotland are also potentially just three games away from reaching Euro 2020, securing a place in the League C play-off route should they fail to qualify the traditional way.

4. Beram Kayal’s wonderful goal for Israel

Scotland may have earned promotion to League B in the Nations League but they were made to work for it against Israel and went behind to a very good goal from Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Kayal.

After patient play outside the Scotland area from Israel, the ball was worked to Kayal 25 yards from goal. The Scotland defenders gave him far too much time and space on the ball, giving Kayal the opportunity to shoot and that is exactly what he did, curling an effort into the top left corner to stun Hampden Park early on.

5. Golden summer over for Russia

Not many people would have backed Russia to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup in the summer, but the host nation did exactly that beating Spain on the way.

However, life post-World Cup has not been great for Russia and 2018 ended on a low as they failed to secure promotion to the Nations League A despite being in a favourable position.

Going into their match against second-placed Sweden on Tuesday night, Russia only needed a point to win League B2 sitting three points above their opponents. A draw in the first game meant a win for Sweden would see them promoted at the expense of Russia, earning at least a place in the play-offs for Euro 2020 at the same time.

And that is exactly what happened with Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof giving Sweden the lead shortly before half-time, finishing coolly after the ball had dropped to him inside the area from a corner.

The Sweden win was then confirmed with 15 minutes to go, thanks to a goal from Marcus Berg, giving Russia far too much to do with little time left.

6. Serbia cruise to League B despite Romanian pressure

On the final night of action in the Uefa Nations League group stages, League C4 brought the most action with all four teams involved and top spot still on the line.

Serbia had the control of the group, knowing a win would guarantee promotion while even a draw would have been enough had Romania failed to win. Meanwhile Romania needed to win and hope Serbia failed to beat Lithuania to leapfrog them into top spot.

Romania did their part on the night, beating a Montenegro side fighting to stay up 1-0 but it was not enough as Serbia saw off fourth-placed Lithuania 4-1 at home to secure top spot, promotion, and, at least, a place in the Euro 2020 play-offs.

It will be hard to take for Romania who end the Nations League unbeaten but, ultimately must look at one draw too many including two goalless games against Montenegro and Serbia.

7. Malta and Faroe Islands punish latecomers

You’ve got to feel for those who got to the Ta’ Qali National Stadium five minutes late on Tuesday night.

In what was a dead rubber at the bottom of League D3, with neither Malta nor the Faroe Islands able to be promoted and relegation non-existent at that level, both sides started brightly.

Faroe Islands took the lead after just three minutes as René Joensen headed in from close range, but it would last just a minute as Juan Corbalan equalised for Malta with his first ever international goal.

And, though both teams pushed for a second, that would be all the action on the night in Malta.

The post Seven things you might have missed as Uefa’s Nations League group stages conclude appeared first on Squawka News.



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