Ukraine 3 - Poland 1; Montenegro 1 - Moldova 0; England 6 - San Marino 0

Rainy Chisinau was the locale as group leaders Montenegro came into town to take on Moldova.  The first half saw very little action except for a long distance near-miss by Moldova, and the teams went into the break scoreless.

Montenegro were looking for the home run with long balls to Stevan Jovetic, and they nearly had an opener through him, but Moldova goalkeeper Serghei Pascenco smartly came off his line to block the shot.  Milorad Pekovic picked up his second yellow card in minute 61, leaving Montenegro a man down for the final thirty minutes of the match.  This did not phase the Montenegrins as they continued to push for the opening goal.  They found it off a loose ball header in the Moldovan penalty area that was met first by Mirko Vucinic on the volley.  The score put Montenegro on track to win.  To add to the bad news of the day for the hosts, Alexandru Gatcan picked up two yellow cards in the final minute of regulation and in stoppage time to get himself sent off at the end of the defeat.  Montenegro win 1-0 to maintain their edge at the top of Group H with a date against second-place England set for Tuesday.

Warsaw was the site of the clash between the 2012 UEFA Euro co-hosts Poland and Ukraine.  The homefield advantage was Polish, but the footballing advantage was Ukrainian on this day.  Andriy Yarmolenko waited only ninety seconds to put Ukraine ahead with a majestic left-footed curler into the side netting from seventeen yards out.  But five minutes later, Ukraine had struck again.  Roman Zuzulia chested a ball down at the edge of the box and then tap into the path of an oncoming Oleg Gusev, who made it 2-0 with a strike from nineteen yards.  Poland thereafter had the better of play.  Sebastian Boenisch had a free volley on a well-run set piece, but he directed the ball straight at the goalkeeper.  Within a dozen minutes of having surrended the second goal, Poland found one of their own.  Lukasz Piszczek ran a one-two-one with Jakub Blaszczykowski that led to him toeing a ball on a curl away from the goalkeeper that made the score 2-1 to Ukraine.  Twenty minutes on, a Polish free kick from the corner of the box was swung over the wall by Maciej Rybus.  The wall was beaten but not goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, who made the save with a diving punch away.  In the final minute of the half, a breakneck flick on header from Yarmolenko found Zuzulia for a side volley finish, giving Ukraine a 3-1 lead at the conclusion of the half.

Ludovic Obraniak was next to suffer the wrath of Pyatov when he was robbed from seven yards by the anticipation and agility of Pyatov.  Ukraine were content to defend and counter with the lead, and a powerful Ruslan Rotan effort would have made it four goals on the night but for a fine save by Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc.  Ukraine win 3-1 on the road.

Serravalle and San Marino played an all-together too friendly host to England.  An early own goal set the tone as the home side were unable to stymie the attack of the Three Lions.  By the time the first half was over, England had a five-goal advantage.  Ashley Young's effort for the fourth goal was the highlight: an absolute rocket off the underside of the crossbar from twenty-five yards.  England led 5-0 after forty-five minutes and did not look like stopping.

Wayne Rooney struck a free up and over the wall from twenty-eight yards to make it 6-0.  Two more goals were eventually hemorrhaged by the home side.  England win 8-0 and go to Montenegro in four days to seek the group lead.

Montenegro 13 pts +11
England 11 pts +18
Ukraine 5 pts +1
Poland 5 pts 0
Moldova 4 pts -6
San Marino 0 pts -24

Goals
Montenegro
Mirko Vucinic 78

Ukraine
Andriy Yarmolenko 2
Oleg Gusev 7
Roman Zozulia 45

Poland
Lukasz Piszczek 18

England
Alessandro Della Valle 12 OG
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 29
Jermain Defore 34, 77
Ashley Young 39
Frank Lampard 42
Wayne Rooney 54
Daniel Sturridge 70

Match Reports:
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008730/postmatch/report/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2299095/Montenegro-scouting-report-What-did-England-learn-match-Moldova.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-ukraine-dominate-win-3-1-poland-220716209--sow.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130322/england-san-marino-world-cup-qualifying.ap/

Highlights:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyeva6_moldova-vs-montenegro-0-1-match-highlights_sport#.UVaBxhykrdg (Montenegro v. Moldova)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQs0qbt83JQ (Ukraine v. Poland)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A8LOYCDeOk (England v. San Marino)