FOOTBALL – Mikel Merino’s hat-trick helped Spain to thrash hosts Türkiye 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier yesterday as the European champions remained firmly in control of Group E.
The hosts had no answer to Spain’s dominance, undone time and again by the visitors’ speed and finesse, with a helpless Turkish defence torn apart on every counter-attack.
Spain lead the group with six points from two matches, while Türkiye and Georgia sit on three points from the same. Georgia beat Bulgaria 3-0 earlier yesterday.
Four-time world champions Germany struggled for more than an hour against Northern Ireland before scoring twice in three minutes in the second half to earn a 3-1 victory.
With the score level at 1-1, a tap-in by substitute Nadiem Amiri in the 69th minute and a free kick from Florian Wirtz made sure of Germany’s first win in Group A.
It was also the first victory for Julian Nagelmann’s team in their last five matches and followed their shock 2-0 loss to hosts Slovakia on Thursday – their first ever away defeat in a World Cup qualifier – in their opening group match.
They next play Luxembourg on October 10 before travelling to Northern Ireland three days later.
The group winners qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup while the runners-up go into a playoff.
Memphis Depay set a new scoring record for the Netherlands as his double ensured they survived a scare in beating Lithuania 3-2 away in their qualifier.
Two goals for the 31-year-old Depay took his national team tally to 52, going ahead of Robin van Persie’s previous record.
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