Sep
World Cup Qualifiers round-up: Cole energises England with brace under pressure
The Chelsea man saves an insipid England as Scots crash and Wales steal a win…
Joe Cole came off the bench in Barcelona to score two goals and inspire England to a 2-0 victory in their opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra.
England did not trade above [1.5] despite being held to a 0-0 half-time scoreline which was backed at a high of [8.8]. The draw was backed in the Half-time market at a high of [7.2].
England were insipid in the first 45 minutes with Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe shooting high and wide. Only the pace of Theo Walcott concerned the Andorran part-timers.
A clearly unimpressed Fabio Capello sent his team out four minutes early at the break and brought on Cole and Emile Heskey. The change proved a shrewd one when, in the 49th minute, the Chelsea man volleyed home as Frank Lampard’s free-kick ricocheted up off Joleon Lescott. Cole was matched at a high of [10.5] to be the first goalscorer.
At this point it looked as though England would go on to complete a rout and the markets reflected this as under 2.5 goals was matched at a high of [6.4] and over 2.5 goals at a low of [1.1].
Perhaps with Wednesday’s match against Croatia in mind, England chose to consolidate and the game ended 0-2, a scoreline matched in the correct score market at[ 9.4].
The Republic Ireland’s match odds did not rise above [1.88] as they got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a positive start with an impressive 2-0 away win against Georgia.
Kevin Doyle, who was backed at a high of [7.4] in the First goalscorer market, opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Glen Whelan added a second in the 68th.
Georgia’s injury time goal may have been mere consolation for the home side but for those who backed a 1-2 scoreline at a high of [18.5] in the correct score market it was cause for celebration. It would also have pleased those who backed Over 2.5 goals at [8.6].
Wales had to rely on substitute Sam Vokes to earn a 1-0 win against Azerbaijan at the Millenium Stadium. Jason Koumas missed a 66th minute penalty before Vokes, who was backed at a high of [8.6] in the First Goalscorer market, struck in the 82nd minute when it looked like the match was heading for an unlikely draw. Wales were backed at high of [2.8] in the match odds and 1-0 touched [7.8] in the Correct Score market. Under 1.5 goals was backed at high of [4.3].
Scotland and Northern Ireland fared less well in their opening clashes.
The Scots remain without a victory under George Burley after going down 1-0 to Macedonia. Ilc Naumosk, who was backed at a high of [9.4] in the First Goalscorer market, scored the only goal after six minutes. 1-0 was backed at a high of [9.0] in the Correct Score market and a Macedonia clean sheet was backed at a high of [5.9]. Under 1.5 goals was backed at a high of [8.0].
In the match odds market Scotland were backed at a low of [2.06] and Macedonia a high of [3.35].
Northern Ireland’s match odds never went below [4.0] as they lost their opening World Cup Qualifier 2-1 away to Slovakia.
A half time 0-0 was backed at a high of [3.05] before Slovakia scored twice in the second half.
An own goal in the 81st minute by Slovakia defender Jan Durica set up an exciting finish but in the end it was only good news for those who had backed 2-1 in the Correct Score market at a high of [24.0].