UEFA Nations League – League D
League D may be the lowest tier of the UEFA Nations League, but the teams in the division didn’t fail to impress in what could be said as an entertaining Matchday 1.
There was history for the league and the tournament, with Georgia scoring the first ever goal in the competition. Luxembourg, meanwhile, made sure to get a piece of history too with their biggest victory at home.
Interestingly, out of the eight games in League D, six fixtures saw two or more goals scored while only two ended up a scoreless stalemate.
GROUP 1
Georgia won the opening day of the tournament, beating Kazakhstan 0-2 and seeing the other Group D1 match between Latvia and Andorra finish with a goalless draw. These results mean that the Georgians are now top of the group with a firm lead over their opponents.
Giorgi Chakvetadze sparked the Crusaders to victory with a 68th-minute goal. It also helped Georgia that Sergei Maliy put through his own net just minutes later in a disastrous opening day for the Kazakhs.
Meanwhile, Latvia dominated possession against the visiting Andorrans, but they never really threatened up front. In fact, it was the visitors who came closest to scoring in the dying minutes, though to no avail.
Highlight of the Group: Chakvetadze’s strike is the first ever goal of the tournament, and boy what a goal it was! Playing the ball from the left, the 19-year-old midfielder moved past a tight Kazakhstan defence to fire a rocket to the top-right corner of the net.
Key statistics: Kazakhstan conceded two goals in a span of five minutes, dooming hopes of a comeback against Vladimir Weiss’ charges.
On the other hand, Latvia had 64 percent possession against Andorra, but they were wasteful in front of the net and even sent seven shots wide.
GROUP 2
It was total domination for Belarus and Luxembourg as they combined for nine goals to open their campaign with a bang.
Igor Stasevich opened the floodgates in the fourth minute and Belarus never looked back as they routed San Marino 5-0. Meanwhile, Luxembourg grabbed the headlines of UEFA Nations League 2018 news with a dominant 4-0 victory over Moldova.
Luxembourg’s Red Lions went up by one in the first half—behind a Kevin Malget goal—before finding their stride in the second half and scoring three in a span of 23 minutes.
Highlight of the Group: Stanislav Dragun was a revelation for Belarus. He scored two times, on both sides of the interval, and even hit the woodwork two times. Interestingly, both of his goals were both headers!
Key statistics: Luxembourg’s four-goal victory was the biggest home win in their national team’s history. Their 6-0 triumph against Afghanistan in the 1948 Olympic preliminary round at England was the only other game they scored four goals or more.
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UEFA Nations League: League C Matchday 1 Highlights and Key Statistics
GROUP 3
The UEFA Nations League 2018 odds at SBOBET have Azerbaijan and Kosovo topping the group. In fact, in our tournament guide, Azerbaijan were tipped to come out on top in Group D3. However, both teams were dealt a blow in their campaign when they played out a goalless draw at Baku.
For Kosovo though, it ended a nine-game losing streak in competitive matches and extended their unbeaten run in all competitions—including friendlies—to five.
Faroe Islands, on the other hand, impressed with a 3-1 drubbing of Malta at home. Joan Edmundsson, Rene Joensen and Hallur Hansson were all on target for the hosts, while Michael Mifsud scored the visitors’ lone goal.
Highlight of the Group: Faroe Islands and Malta staged an exciting 12-minute spell in the latter stages of the first half. Edmundsson and Joensen hit back-to-back goals in a span of seven minutes to put the hosts 2-0 up, but Misfud reduced the arrears five minutes later to keep them within striking distance at halftime.
Key statistics: The Azerbaijan-Kosovo match is Gurban Gurbanov’s first competitive game in charge for Azerbaijan. He took over the team after their failed bid in the World Cup qualifiers and has since recorded a 2-2-2 win-draw-loss record in friendlies.
Meanwhile, Misfud’s goal is his 41st for Malta, breaking a 20-game drought in the process.
GROUP 4
Armenia and Macedonia are in for an early battle for the no.1 spot in their group as the two European dreamers got off to a winning start.
The Armenians edged out a feisty Liechtenstein side 2-1, thanks to a 76th-minute winner from substitute Tigran Barseghyan. Armenia went ahead at the half hour through a Marcos Pizzelli opener, but Sandro Wolfinger immediately hit back to level matters for Liechtenstein and set up a tight second half.
On the other Group D4 match, Macedonia made easy work of Gibraltar with two first-half goals. They finished 2-0 to top the group, ahead of Armenia on goal difference.
Highlight of the Group: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has been sensational for Arsenal this season, had a chance to play hero for his Armenia. However, he saw a second-half penalty kick saved before Liechtenstein went down to 10 men and gave Armenia the opening they needed.
Key statistics: With the victory, Macedonia are now unbeaten in eight games in all competitions. Meanwhile, Armenia secured their first win this 2018, having failed to win in their recent friendlies against Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Moldova.
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