PARIS: France held on to beat Ireland 1-0 in Dublin on Monday to win their second Euro 2024 qualifier, while the Netherlands eased past Gibraltar 3-0.

France’s win at Ireland was earned by defender Benjamin Pavard’s rasping 50th-minute shot that was a rare show of attacking force in Dublin.

Like France, Serbia have begun their qualifying programme with two wins thanks to Dusan Vlahovic striking twice late in a 2-0 win at Montenegro. The first in the 78th was a slick first-time shot to meet a cross from the left flank.

Poland got their first points after beating Albania 1-0 though it was a Major League Soccer striker rather than superstar Robert Lewandowski who scored. Karol Swiderski, who plays for Charlotte and was little used at the World Cup, got the decisive goal just before halftime.

For the second time in four days, France players were hugging goalkeeper Mike Maignan at the final whistle for their new No 1’s standout saves in the final two minutes at a sold-out Lansdowne Road.

With 30 seconds to play in Dublin, AC Milan’s Maignan, who has succeeded former captain Hugo Lloris as Les Bleus’ goalkeeper, tipped over team-mate Jules Kounde’s panicked header.

From the resulting corner Maignan saved the visitors’ skin as he made a similar save from Nathan Collins’ powerful effort.

On Friday, in a 4-0 rout of the Netherlands in their Group ‘B’ opener, Maignan kept his shutout by saving a stoppage-time penalty from Memphis Depay.

“Mike’s stop allowed us to stay in the match and claim a clean sheet, so I’m going to say that he’s the man of the match,” Bayern Munich’s Pavard told television channel TF1. “I had the chance to play, it was succesful, I scored, even if a defender’s main objective is to defend well.”

In Rotterdam, Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake scored twice in a little over half an hour as the Netherlands overcame 10-men Gibraltar, 200th in the FIFA rankings.

Atletico Madrid forward Depay opened the scoring in the first half with a towering header before veteran Liam Walker was shown a red card in the 51st for a high tackle on midfielder Mats Wieffer.

One minute earlier, Ake scored with a header and the defender added his second in the 82nd when his deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area rolled softly into the net.

Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk bemoaned a lack of goals at De Kuip from his team.

“You score three goals, but you have to score many more,” van Dijk said. “This is a game where you can hardly ever get it right. You have to win 10-0, so to speak.”

Vlahovic was not fully fit at the World Cup and Serbia went home early without a win and last in a group in which Brazil and Switzerland advanced.

The Juventus forward was sharp on Monday, scoring with a pair of left foot shots as Serbia beat Montenegro in only their third meeting since Montenegro declared independence in 2006.

Serbia and Montenegro, which both began the five-team Group ‘G’ with wins on Friday, are neighbors who formed a united team for three years from 2003, including at the 2006 World Cup.

Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai scored perhaps the goal of the night in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.

Szoboszlai fired in a fast, dipping free kick from 25 yards (meters) into the top right corner of the Bulgaria goal. That lifted Hungary to a two-goal lead after just 26 minutes of their first game in qualifying and it was 3-0 by halftime.

Bulgaria’s second straight loss already looks likely to extend their wait to play at a finals tournament beyond 20 years.

In Group ‘F’, Sweden bounced back from a heavy opening defeat to Belgium by hammering Azerbaijan 5-0 in Solna.

Sweden managed without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, because of an unspecified injury for the 41-year-old forward, and eased some of the pressure that was building on coach Janne Andersson.

Emile Forsberg, Viktor Gyokeres, Jesper Karlsson and Anthony Elanga netted for the hosts and Bahlul Mustafazade scored an own goal.

Belgium had a night off in the five-team group and that let Austria go clear in the standings, adding a 2-1 win over Estonia to another home win on Friday against Azerbaijan.

Austria trailed for much of the game to Estonia’s 25th-minute opener from a Rauno Sappinen effort. Cologne winger Florian Kainz opened his account for his country with 22 minutes to play before Michael Gregoritsch’s deflected shot from near the penalty spot completed the comeback with two minutes to go.

Real Madrid’s David Alaba came off the bench after 46 minutes after Gregoritsch has missed a first half penalty.

“I’ve had enough of rollercoaster rides,” Gregoritsch told broadcasters ORF. “I also have to apologise to the team for letting them worry for so long.”

In Group ‘E’, Poland coach Fernando Santos got his first points in his new job since leaving Euro 2016 champions Portugal after the World Cup in December.

A modest win over Albania was earned by Swiderski’s strike in the 41st, when he reacted fastest at the edge of the six-yard box to collect a rebound from a shot that struck a post.

The Czech Republic lead the five-team group with four points, though a 0-0 draw at Moldova was a drop in class from their 3-1 home win over Poland on Friday.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2023