Euro 2016 qualifiers: Slovakia stun defending champs Spain; England labour to win

Holders Spain suffered their first defeat in qualifying for a major tournament in eight years when Miroslav Stoch nodded a late goal to earn Slovakia a shock 2-1 victory in Euro 2016 Group C on Thursday.

A powerful, swerving free kick from Juraj Kucka in the 17th minute that deceived goalkeeper Iker Casillas put the hosts ahead and Spain struggled to find a way past inspired home goalkeeper Matus Kozacik despite dominating possession.

Substitute Paco Alcacer levelled for the visitors eight minutes from time but any hopes the 2008 and 2012 champions had of snatching a winner were shattered when Stoch headed past Casillas in the 87th minute.

It is the first time Spain have lost a qualifier in the European Championship or World Cup since they were beaten by Sweden in October 2006 and it sparked wild celebrations among the Slovakia players and supporters.

"They hit us on the counter attack, we lost concentration and they scored a second goal," Alcacer told the Spanish television broadcaster TVE.

"There are still plenty of games to turn things around," added the Valencia forward.

"It will do us good as it means we won't let ourselves make the same mistake again."

Slovakia, who won 1-0 in Ukraine in their opening qualifier last month and are ranked 40th in the world, top Group C with a maximum six points. Spain have three after they began their campaign with a 5-1 triumph at home to Macedonia.

Ukraine and Macedonia also have three points and Luxembourg and Belarus a point each.

Slovakia made a bright start at the MSK stadium in Zilina and Casillas had to conjure a brilliant reaction save to keep out Robert Mak's 11th-minute volley.

Forward Diego Costa, who has been in red-hot form for Chelsea but has failed to score for Spain in six appearances, nodded a Cesc Fabregas centre narrowly wide two minutes later before Kucka struck.

The champions went close to an equaliser at a corner moments before the break when Kozacik denied first Costa and then Sergio Busquets with a pair of fine saves and the Slovakia players were given a standing ovation as they trooped off.

Spain pressed hard at the start of the second period and Fabregas and Costa went close as they tried to break through the massed Slovak ranks.

Coach Vicente del Bosque threw on Pedro and Alcacer to try to add extra zip to the Spain attack and although the visitors thought they had secured at least a point when Alcacer scored, there was still time for substitute Stoch to bury his header past Casillas.

The 24-year-old, who plays for Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, tore off his shirt in celebration before being engulfed by ecstatic teammates.

England made to work hard as Rooney closes in on Charlton’s goal record

England duly beat San Marino 5-0 to maintain their perfect start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign but laboured for long periods against the joint-worst team in the world at a half-full Wembley on Thursday.

England went ahead when Phil Jagielka headed home a corner after 24 minutes, doubled their lead when Wayne Rooney scored his 42nd England goal from a 43rd-minute penalty and added a third in the 49th minute when Danny Welbeck smashed home a cross from his Arsenal teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Andros Townsend, who replaced Welbeck on 66 minutes, made it 4-0 six minutes after coming on, scoring with a fierce shot that bounced in between goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini and his near post.

The fifth was an own goal from Alessandro Della Valle, who deflected a cross shot from Rooney into his own net after 77 minutes.

While the result was convincing, it did not reflect how poor England were in the first half or how they were frustrated for much of the match by a blanket San Marino defence and by Simoncini, who made one superb save from Welbeck in the 42nd minute and several other good stops in the second half.

San Marino spent most of the match in their own half and despite England having to work hard for the win, there was never any doubt the visitors were heading for their 66th successive defeat in World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.

"The fact is, in the first half of this game, a very fit and healthy team got 10 men behind the ball," England manager Roy Hodgson told ITV.

"We had to wear them down and keep doing the right things, knowing if you do that and you score one or two goals in the second half, it will open up and you can score lots and lots of goals."

England, who beat Switzerland 2-0 in their opening qualifier last month, now have six points in Group E and play in Estonia on Sunday.

The only question before the match was how many goals would England score, having won all their four previous encounters against San Marino, ranked with Bhutan joint 208th and last in the FIFA rankings, with a goal tally of 26-1.

With huge swathes of Wembley's upper tiers empty, the 55,000 crowd watched the opening exchanges in muted tones as England, camped in their opponents' half, failed to make the breakthrough until Jagielka scored.

The second goal did not come until just before halftime when Rooney smashed home a penalty after being kicked in the face by San Marino forward Andy Selva.

It was his 42nd goal in his 98th international and brought him closer to Bobby Charlton's all-time England record haul of 49.

Adam Lallana was unlucky to see what would have been his first goal for England disallowed for offside when he deflected home a fierce shot from Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Rooney then failed to chip the keeper when through on goal and Townsend had a late shot cleared off the line.

It was not a classic victory by any standard, but keeps England on course for a place in the expanded 24-team finals in France in two years' time.

Sweden fight back to draw with wasteful Russia

Ola Toivonen's goal crowned a gutsy Sweden fight back in a 1-1 draw with Russia but, ever the tough taskmaster, Fabio Capello thought the visitors should have easily won the Euro 2016 qualifier on Thursday.

Russia took the lead in the 10th minute at Stockholm's Friends Arena when Alexsandr Kokorin surged through before cutting back onto his right foot and rolling the ball through the legs of Mikael Antonsson and past the despairing dive of Andreas Isaksson.

Sweden wasted the perfect opportunity to equalise three minutes later when Jimmy Durmaz was upended in the box by Igor Smolnikov, but keeper Igor Akinfeev threw himself to his right to push away Sebastian Larsson's well-struck penalty.

In for the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Toivonen pulled Sweden level in the 49th minute, turning home Durmaz's low cross before being replaced by Johan Elmander eight minutes later after injuring a hamstring.

With four points from their first two games, Russia lead Group G on goal difference from Montenegro and Austria, with the Swedes in fourth place on two points. Russia next host Moldova on Sunday when Sweden welcome Liechtenstein.

"I am happy for the performance of the team, but not happy for the result," Russia coach Capello told a news conference.

"We had a lot of chances to score the (winning) goal. There were two saves from the keeper, one mistake from our forward and some moments that were really, really dangerous for Sweden."

Sweden coach Erik Hamren declared himself content with his side's showing, despite dropping two points at home.

"I'm very happy with our attitude again. We started the game well, until their goal we played well. It felt like a punch in the stomach when they went 1-0 up," he said.

"We missed a penalty and yet we came back. The last 20 minutes we were on our knees, but we sorted it out and took an important point."

Ibrahimovic was not the only injury absentee for the home side, with coach Hamren forced to reshuffle his pack in midfield as Albin Ekdal missed the game due to a toe infection.

Centre back Antonsson was also struck down by a stomach bug earlier in the week and was kept away from training as a precautionary measure but played.

There were chances for both sides to find a winner.

Russia remained dangerous on the counter attack and Oleg Shatov should have put his side back in front when he rounded Isaksson but fired his shot over the empty goal as Antonsson raced back to cover.

The Swedes pushed on looking for a second but could not break the deadlock, despite a number of good chances from free kicks and corners with Olympiakos' Durmaz pulling the strings from his position on the left of a midfield three.