Spain and Germany scrape victories, England held

Reuters: Spain stretched their winning run in tournament qualifiers to 23 as they began the journey to the 2014 World Cup with a 1-0 victory in Georgia on Tuesday but along with Germany and Italy they struggled to take the points.

The world and European champions, who last failed to win a qualifying match five years ago in Iceland, needed an 86th minute Roberto Soldado strike to kick-start their Group I campaign in Tbilisi.

Germany, who won all 10 of their qualification matches for Euro 2012, made it two from two in Group C but had to battle all the way for a 2-1 victory against neighbours Austria in Vienna.

Italy, beaten by Spain in the European Championship final, were unimpressive in a 2-0 win at home to lowly-ranked Malta.

England had to settle for a point against Ukraine in Group H, Frank Lampard’s late penalty salvaging a 1-1 draw at Wembley that put Roy Hodgson’s side level on four points with Poland and Montenegro.

England had skipper Steven Gerrard sent off for a second booking late in the game.

France, who will battle for top spot in Group I with Spain, beat Belarus 3-1 in Paris to claim six points from two games.

While some fancied sides laboured, the best performances on a busy night came from Russia, who won 4-0 in Israel to top Group F, the Netherlands, 4-1 winners in Hungary in Group D, and Serbia who beat Wales 6-1 in their Group A clash in Novi Sad.

Bosnia lead the scoring charts though after crushing Latvia 4-1 having put eight past Liechtenstein on Friday. Greece joined Bosnia on six points in Group G after beating Lithuania 2-0.

Spain encountered an ultra-defensive Georgia side and were enduring a night of frustration until Soldado, given a rare start in place of the likes of Fernando Torres and David Villa, converted a cross from substitute Cesc Fabregas.

Germany survived a torrid first half against Austria before Marco Reus and Mesut Ozil scored either side of halftime to give them a 2-1 win and an eighth successive victory over their neighbours who have not qualified for the World Cup since 1998.

Zlatko Junuzovic pulled one back for Austria and Marko Arn-autovic missed a great chance for the hosts late on. Italy and Bulgaria have four points each after the latter beat Armenia 1-0 in a game that saw three red cards.

Portugal made it two wins from two in Group F with a 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan while Switzerland are the early pacesetters in Group E thanks to a 2-0 victory over Albania.

Belgium, who are strongly fancied to qualify for the finals in Brazil, came back from a goal down at home to Croatia in Group A to earn a 1-1 draw.