BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — England needed a second-half goal from Harry Kane to secure a 1-0 win over lowly Andorra and maintain a perfect record under Thomas Tuchel after three World Cup qualifiers on Saturday.
England was held scoreless by a team ranked 173rd in the world until Kane redirected a pass from Noni Madueke into the top of the net in the 50th minute after the Bayern Munich striker’s initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Iker Álvarez.
“We need to be better for sure,” Kane said. “It’s not one that many will remember, and we had good spells, but we take the three points and move on.”
It was goal No. 72 in his 106th appearance for the Three Lions.
Tuchel’s side remained top of Europe’s Group K with nine points after wins against Albania and Latvia. They have yet to concede a goal under the German coach.
Nevertheless, Tuchel said that he was “not happy” with the slim win over tiny Andorra, which has a population of around 80,000.
“At the end of it, it was absolutely not OK because we lost focus and we lost the urgency that is needed,” he said.
Andorra remained winless but managed to frustrate England's stars for most of the game with its five-man defensive line. Ezri Konsa had to block a late shot by Andorra’s Guillaume Lopez to prevent the chance of an equalizer.
“We kept giving it away and that gave them a bit of confidence and energy,” Kane said. "At 1-0 with five to 10 minutes to go you have to be careful.”
England dominated possession and Eberechi Eze went close to a second goal when he forced Álvarez to tip his header of the bar as the visitors couldn't extend the lead.
England had won its previous six meetings with Andorra by a combined score of 25-0.
“In terms of effort, I think I couldn’t be prouder of my team and how they carried it out,” Andorra coach Koldo Álvarez said.
The game was played at Espanyol’s stadium in Barcelona, nearly three hours south of the Pyrenees principality due to concerns that work on Andorra’s home stadium wouldn’t be finished in time.
Only the group winners qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America. The second-placed teams go into a playoffs.
Europe will have 16 teams in the expanded 48-team field for the World Cup. The group stage of European qualifying runs through November.
England will next host Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday.
Albania and Serbia draw under tight security
Albania and Serbia drew 0-0 in the latest chapter of a charged rivalry rooted in deep historical and ethnic tensions between the Balkan neighbors.
Serbia goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic saved a penalty kick by Rey Manaj in the best chance of the game, which was played without Serbian fans as determined by UEFA for security concerns.
Albania is second in Group K behind England with four points after three games.
There were few chances in the match played under tight security, with more than 2,000 police officers guarding the capital.
Albanian fans loudly whistled when the Serbian anthem was played and shouted Kosovo, which predominantly has an ethnic Albanian population and which was part of Serbia until 1999 when a NATO air campaign pushed Serb forces and authorities out.
Some fans tossed beer cups at the Serbian players, despite repeated calls for them to stop.
A 2014 game between the teams in Belgrade was abandoned when a drone carrying an Albanian flag sparked a full-scale brawl. The last time they met on Albanian soil was in 2015.
Veteran Dzeko scores for Bosnia
A goal from 39-year-old Edin Dzeko gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a 1-0 win over San Marino.
The Balkan republic leads Group H with three wins, while San Marino is bottom with zero points.
Austria beat Romania 2-1 in the same group as Michael Gregoritsch and Marcel Sabitzer scored for the hosts before Denis Alibec halved the difference in injury time.
Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries provided the scoring for the Netherlands in a 2-0 win at Finland to start their qualifying campaign in Group G.
Lithuania was held 0-0 at Malta also in Group G.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press
