Germany rebounded from Saturday's defeat to England in emphatic fashion by thrashing Italy 4-1 on Tuesday.
Thomas Muller assisted on both of Germany's first goals, first as Toni Kroos gave the Germans the lead in the 24th minute and then with a chipped pass for Mario Gotze to head in.
The rout was on in the 59th minute when Julian Draxler raced in on goal and fed across for Jonas Hector to score Germany's third, and Mesut Ozil added a fourth from the penalty spot in the 75th minute after Italy keeper Gigi Buffon tripped up Sebastian Rudy.
Italy found a consolation goal through substitute Stephan El Shaarawy, whose speculative 83rd-minute effort took a big deflection off of Antonio Rudiger and looped into the net.
England were brought back down to earth with a bump as Netherlands came from behind to win 2-1 at Wembley.
The opening goal came in the 41st minute as Jaime Vardy scored for the second successive game. Adam Lallana fed in Kyle Walker on the overlap, and the Spurs defender unselfishly cut a pass back to Vardy who calmly sidefooted home.
Netherlands were level in the 50th minute after Danny Rose was penalised for handball in the area. Janssen should have scored when Stones slipped and allowed the striker through on goal, but Forster made a good save -- only for the loose ball to run wide and Rose block the cross illegally. Janssen made no mistake from the spot, picking out the top corner.
The Dutch turned the game on its head in the 76th minute on a controversial play. England were furious that Janssen was not penalised for a foul on Phil Jagielka by Janssen, and the scorer of the first goal squared the ball for Luciano Narsingh to net the second with ease.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal held on to defeat Belgium 2-1.
Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois made a number of early spectacular saves to keep the game level but Nani found the breakthrough with a curling shot in the 20th minute.
Ronaldo added a second on 40 minutes by heading in a cross from close range. That proved to be the difference despite Belgium getting a goal back in the 62nd minute when Jordan Lukaku sent in a cross for his brother Romelu to head home.
France were happy to be back home in the first game at the Stade de France since November's attacks on Paris as they defeated Russia 4-2.
Leicester's Ngolo Kante opened the scoring on nine minutes before Andre-Pierre Gignac doubled the lead.
Alexander Kokorin got a goal back for Russia after the break, but Dimitri Payet restored the two-goal advantage.
Russia kept fighting and scored through Yuri Zhirkov in the 68th minute but Kingsley Coman sealed matters in the 76th with France's fourth of the day.
Matt Ritchie scored the only goal of the game in the eighth minute as Scotland defeated Denmark 1-0.
It ended 2-2 at the Aviva Stadium where the Republic of Ireland faced Slovakia.
The home team's fortunes varied after Slovakia went a goal up in the 14th minute thanks to Miroslav Stoch. They were then awarded two penalties three minutes apart -- both providing goals by Shane Long (21) and James McClean (24).
Slovakia equalised in the 45th minute when Ireland's Paul McShane put the ball in the back of his own team's net.
Manchester City's Aleksandar Kolarov scored from a free kick in the 81st minute at the A. Le Coq Arena, to lead Serbia to a 1-0 victory over Estonia.
Bulgaria's winning streak continued against Macedonia, securing a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Dimitar Rangelov (65) and Aleksandar Tonev (87).
It was goalless at the Stadion Pod Goricom as Montenegro drew 0-0 with Belarus.
Georgia drew 1-1 against Kazakhstan at the Dinamo Arena, with a goal from Tornike Okriashvili (38) for the home side and Azat Nurgaliev (36) for the visitors.
Iceland came back from a two-goal deficit, at the hands of Greece's Konstantinos Fortounis' 19th minute penalty and a subsequent goal in the 31st minute.
The visitors ended the goal 3-2 up thanks to Arnor Traustason (34) Sverrir Ingi Ingason (70) and a late winner by Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (82).
Latvia scored five goals -- Janis Ikaunieks (46), Kaspars Dubra (53), Valerijs Sabala (57), Aleksejs Visnakovs (82), Janis Ikaunieks (84) on the scoresheet -- for a very comfortable win against Gibraltar.
Norway beat fellow Scandinavians Finland 2-0 with goals from Stefan Johansen (83) and Jo Inge Berget (57).
Turkey beat home side Austria 2-1 with goals for the victors from Hakan Calhanoglu (43) and Arda Turan (56), while Austria's goal came from Zlatko Junuzovic (22).
Sweden drew 1-1 against the Czech Republic with goals from Marcus Berg (14) for the home side and Matej Vydra (26) for the visitors.
Edin Dzeko (14) and MIralem Pjanic (57) scored for Bosnia and Herzegovina to beat Switzerland 2-0.
Albania scored twice to beat home side Luxembourg 2-0 thanks to Armando Sadiku (63) and Sokol Cikalleshi (75).
-
Follow Joy Sports on Twitter: @JoySportsGH. Our hashtag is #JoySports
Latest Stories
-
Perez Musik celebrates marriage with breathtaking photos
3 mins -
I am not ready to sign any artiste to my record label – Kuami Eugene
30 mins -
Gov’t spokesperson on governance & security calls for probe into ballot paper errors
33 mins -
Free dialysis treatment to be available in 40 facilities from December 1 – NHIA CEO
47 mins -
NHIA will need GHC57 million annually to fund free dialysis treatment – NHIA CEO
53 mins -
MELPWU signs first-ever Collective Agreement with government
1 hour -
I’ve not been evicted from my home – Tema Central MP refutes ‘unfounded’ reports
1 hour -
After Free SHS, what next? – Alan quizzes and pledges review to empower graduates
2 hours -
Wontumi FM’s Oheneba Asiedu granted bail
2 hours -
Alan promises to amend the Constitution to limit presidential powers
2 hours -
Ghana to face liquidity pressures in 2025, 2026 despite restructuring most of its debt – Fitch
2 hours -
NPP’s record of delivering on promises is unmatched – Bawumia
2 hours -
Mahama: It’s time to dismiss the incompetent NPP government
2 hours -
‘It’s extremely embarrassing’ – Ernest Thompson on Ghana’s AFCON failure
3 hours -
Today’s front pages: Monday, November 25, 2024
3 hours