FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifier: Harry Kane's brace helps England beat Malta 4-0
Ta' Qali (Malta): Putting his latest August goal drought behind him, Harry Kane scored twice for England in a 4-0 win over Malta that pushed his team closer to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
The striker failed to score in all three of Tottenham's Premier League games in August, extending his dry run in that month to 12 matches for the club in total. Kane got off the mark for this season, scoring the first and last of England's four second-half goals against the world's 190th-ranked team in Group F of European qualifying.
"Didn't like August anyway!" Kane, the top scorer for the past two seasons in the Premier League, wrote in a lighthearted comment on Twitter soon after the match. Three goals from the 86th minute -- Ryan Bertrand and substitute Danny Welbeck also netted -- gave the result a flattering look.
England's build-up play was ponderous and only improved once Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford came on as a halftime substitute to inject some directness in the visitors' play.
"Whenever you come away for games like this, it is never going to be easy," said Kane, who now has 10 goals in 20 international appearances. "We were trying to break them down, (but) they had 10 men behind the ball."
The English are unbeaten in qualifying with three games left, having won five and drawn two. They stayed two points clear of Slovakia, which beat Slovenia 1-0 in Trnava to boost its chances of at least securing a spot in the playoffs for the eight best second-place finishers.
The situation in the group might look different on Monday, though, with England hosting Slovakia at Wembley Stadium in a potentially defining game.
Poland suffer first loss in qualifiers
Poland was thrashed 4-0 by Denmark for its first loss in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, throwing Group E wide open. With Montenegro winning 3-0 at Kazakhstan, Poland's lead was trimmed to three points with three games remaining.
Montenegro and Denmark are tied on points behind the Poles. Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen set up goals for Thomas Delaney and Andreas Cornelius in the first half, before scoring himself in the 80th to wrap up a surprisingly one- sided match at Telia Parken in Copenhagen. Nicolai Jorgensen scored the third goal, in the 59th minute.
Marko Vesovic, Fatos Beciraj and Marko Simic were the scorers for Montenegro in Astana.
Poland hosts Kazakhstan on Monday, before finishing with games against Armenia away and Montenegro at home. Romania beat Armenia 1-0 thanks to midfielder Alexandru
Maxim's goal in the first minute of stoppage time. Romania is fourth in the group, four points behind Montenegro and Denmark.
