Tuesday saw a spectacular night of football with a Wayne Rooney-sans England battling Slovenia and Brazil getting the better of Venezuela in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Goals were in plenty but the hero of the day was England goalkeeper Joe Hart who was at his sublime best, pulling off some jaw-dropping saves. If not for him, England could well have been staring at large defeat at Slovenia's hands.
Joe Hart is England’s hero
England went into their match against Slovenia with Wayne Rooney on the bench and presided by interim manager Gareth Southgate, after a 2-0 win against Malta. With Slovenia ranked 67th in the world, England were probably looking at another comfortable victory. However, Slovenia hit them by surprise with some aggressive football and were always spotted in England’s half of the pitch. Thanks to some brilliant saves by Joe Hart, England kept Slovenia at bay in a goalless draw.
Aguero fails to inspire Argentina
Sergio Aguero missed a crucial penalty as Argentina lost 1-0 to Paraguay. Aguero, who played the entire match without getting injured, was expected to nail the spot kick but, messed up after a hesitant start. Without Lionel Messi in their corner, the weight of expectation on Aguero’s shoulder was probably heavier and that seemed to have dented the confidence of Manchester City’s potent striker.
Brazil remain on song
Brazil were at their best as they dismantled Venezuela 2-0 with beautifully crafted goals by Willian and Gabriel Jesus. The only glitch in the game was a floodlight failure that dampened the mood in the arena for a few minutes. Brazil, who were without suspended Neymar, opened the scoring with a comical chip by Jesus over goalkeeper Daniel Hernandez.
Germany continue their march
Germany beat Northern Ireland 2-0 with Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira on target in a lopsided contest. Draxler scored an exquisite goal by turning and netting the ball with a fabulous finish in the end. It was a goal that showed the calibre and class that Draxler possesses and why he is a player to watch out for in the future
Vidal powers Chile over Peru
Arturo Vidal scored both the goals as Chile romped to a 2-1 win over Peru. Edison Flores pulled one back for Peru, but Vidal scored the second within nine minutes to rescue Chile to make it 2-1 with a clinical finish.
Colombia and Uruguay net two apiece
Luis Suarez was on target for Uruguay as the South Americans drew 2-2 with Colombia on Tuesday. Colombia opened the scoring with Abel Aguilar scoring the first goal of the match in the 15th minute. However, Uruguay leveled the score with Cristian Rodriguez scoring a brilliant header. Suarez doubled the lead in the second half but, during the dying minutes of the match, Yerry Mina scored a brilliant goal to make 2-2.
Bonus: the best goal of the night came from unlikely quarters
However, even though the big names did produce some wonderful goals, the most talked-about goal came from Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Al-Muwallad against the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia won 3-0 leaving UAE in tatters.