England combine ruthlessness with luck, Northern Ireland enjoy a Baggies bonanza and France complete a stirring comeback on a busy Friday night of international football.
Here’s how all the action played out.
England 3 Scotland 0
The Liverpool goal train chose Wembley as its latest destination, with Daniel Sturridge (9.8) and Adam Lallana (7.2) setting England on the way to a victory considerably less emphatic than the scoreline suggested.
Scotland outshot their opponents by 12 attempts to nine from just 32% possession, while England scored from all three of their attempts on target, with Tottenham full-backs Kyle Walker (6.1) and Danny Rose (5.9) both providing assists in impressive attacking displays.
Gary Cahill (6.0) scored the third, from a Wayne Rooney (8.6) corner, while Raheem Sterling (8.1) had a great opportunity to break his seven-match goal drought in all competitions but somehow fired over from inside the six-yard box.
Jamie Vardy (9.6) has gone even longer without a goal – 14 matches in all competitions – and has lost 450,000 Fantasy Premier League managers since Gameweek 1. The 9.5% of bosses still backing him saw their man given only a late cameo against Scotland and he seems highly unlikely to start Tuesday’s friendly with Spain either.
The 3.5%-owned Hull midfielder Robert Snodgrass (5.5) played 81 minutes for the visitors as he continued his return from injury, but was among a number of Scottish players to spurn chances.
Such profligacy leaves Gordon Strachan’s future in further doubt while Gareth Southgate moves ever closer to being handed the England job permanently.
England: Hart, Walker, Cahill, Stones, Rose, Henderson, Dier, Sterling, Rooney, Lallana, Sturridge (Vardy 75).
Northern Ireland 4 Azerbaijan 0
Northern Ireland’s comfortable victory was very much a Black Country affair.
Three of the four goals were either created or scored by West Brom players, with Gareth McAuley (4.7) netting from a Chris Brunt (4.9) assist after Jonny Evans (4.5) had set up the host’s opener.
Brunt was also on hand to fire in a shot that Southampton’s Steven Davis (5.2) flicked in for the final goal and the Baggies man continues to attract our Fantasy attention.
Classed as a defender in the official game, Brunt has been used in a more attacking role by Tony Pulis since returning from injury and now has some form to go with a good set of upcoming fixtures – Burnley and Watford at home and Hull away.
As an aside, the long search for ‘The New George Best’ is finally over. McAuley’s ninth goal for his country, brought him level with the Northern Ireland legend.
France 2 Sweden 1
Two of the Premier League’s brightest stars helped France come from behind to win in Paris.
Paul Pogba (8.2) headed home from a Dmitri Payet (9.3) free kick to equalise before the West Ham man hit the winner not long afterwards.
The French side was packed with Premier League talent, with Hugo Lloris (5.5), Laurent Koscielny (6.5), Pogba, Olivier Giroud (8.8), Payet and Moussa Sissoko (6.7) all starting. N’Golo Kante (4.8) also made a brief late appearance.
Fantasy managers will hope French coach Didier Deschamps uses those assets rather more sparingly in Tuesday’s friendly against the Ivory Coast.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany just about shaded it in San Marino, firing in 40 attempts to nil and having 19 shots on target as they won 8-0, with Man City’s Ilkay Gundogan (5.8) providing an early assist. Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi (6.0) was an unused sub.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen (8.1) converted a penalty and scored again with a brilliant solo effort in second half stoppage time as Denmark beat Kazakhstan 4-1. Middlesbrough man Viktor Fischer (4.9) spent the evening on the bench.
Bournemouth’s Josh King (5.4) played the full 90 minutes for Norway, scoring a late consolation in their 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic, while Everton midfielder Gerard Deulofeu (6.0) converted a penalty for Spain Under-21’s as they drew 1-1 with Austria.
Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (5.0) kept a clean sheet as Poland beat Romania 3-0.
Further afield, Sunderland midfielder Wahbi Khazri (6.1) got the only goal, a penalty, as Tunisia beat ten-man Libya, while Southampton’s Maya Yoshida (4.3) started for Japan in their 4-0 friendly win over Oman.
