Kieran Tierney made an exceptional clearance for Scotland on Friday night in their Qatar World Cup qualifying game, Emile Smith Rowe made his debut for England, while a few other Arsenal players were also in action for their countries.

Kieran Tienry amazing goal-saving clearance fro Scotland (see more below)
Kieran Tienry amazing goal-saving clearance fro Scotland (see more below)

England all but sealed qualification for the Qatar World Cup with a 5-1 win over Albania on Friday night.

They now only need a draw against San Marino on Monday to make it out of their stupidly easy group.

Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka were both named on the bench but with 77 minutes on the clock, Gareth Southgate took Raheem Sterling off and brought on Smith Rowe.

Smith Rowe completed 93% of his 13 passes.

After the game, Smith Rowe took to Twitter to say he was ‘buzzing to make my debut’.

https://twitter.com/emilesmithrowe/status/1459283067797913604

Bukayo Saka was an unused substitute.

On Saturday morning, it was revealed that Southgate will remain as England manager until 2024.

His current contract expires after the Qatar World Cup next winter but there is an agreement in principal to extend his deal for a further year.

Other Qatar World Cup qualifiers

Mohamed Elneny got on the scoresheet for Egypt as they drew 2-2 in Angola.

https://twitter.com/onzemasr/status/1459248236292677642

After his first international call-up, Gabriel remained on the bench for their 1-0 win over Colombia thanks to a 72nd minute Lucas Paqueta goal (Neymar assist) past David Ospina in goal.

Kieran Tierney started and played the full 90 for Scotland as they won 2-0 in Moldova.

Towards the end of the match, with Scotland 2-0 up, Moldova were awarded a penalty.

A great save by Craig Gordon was followed up by a quite brilliant Kieran Tierney clearance:

https://twitter.com/itsaftballthing/status/1459430074936135681

Lucas Torreira played the full 90 for Uruguay as they lost 1-0 at home to Argentina with Emi Martinez in goal.

Injury ruled Daniel Ballard out of Northern Ireland’s 1-0 win over Lithuania at Windsor Park.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a penalty on international duty with Gabon on Friday, before raising injury concerns in the final minutes.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 07: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal reacts after having his penalty kick saved by Ben Foster of Watford FC during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Watford at Emirates Stadium on November 07, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal reacts after having his penalty kick saved by Ben Foster of Watford FC during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Watford at Emirates Stadium on November 07, 2021. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Arsenal striker and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hasn’t had the best time at the penalty spot in recent matches, with his efforts against Aston Villa and Watford both saved – albeit that he turned in the Villa penalty on the rebound.

Currently away on international duty, and despite his recent woes, Aubameyang stepped up to take a penalty for Gabon in the 54th minute against Libya on Saturday.

The game was a must-win for Gabon, as their last hope of making the World Cup next year, so there was quite a bit of pressure on the spot-kick.

This time around, the Arsenal man managed to wrong-foot the goalkeeper and give his team the lead.

Let’s hope it gives Aubameyang confidence that he managed to put it away this time.

There is a vague injury concern after he was taken off late in the game. He was initially stretched off, but he appeared to be alright afterwards, walking around unaided and dancing along with the squad on Instagram.

Unfortunately, Egypt’s result later in the day meant that Gabon can’t qualify for the World Cup.

Aubameyang did his bit, but Gabon simply went into the break with too much to do.

From an Arsenal point of view, whilst disappointed for Aubameyang, I’m sure we’ll be glad to see the club captain getting a rest next winter.

At least the pressure is off Gabon’s next game, before Aubameyang returns to Arsenal for the trip to Anfield.