Memphis Depay equalled Robin van Persie as the Netherlands' all-time leading men’s goalscorer with a brace in an 8-0 thumping of Malta in World Cup qualifying in Groningen.
Depay opened the scoring after nine minutes from the spot and then moved level with fellow ex-Manchester United man Van Persie on 50 goals for the Dutch with his strike just after a quarter of an hour.
In doing so, Depay matched Van Persie’s record after the same number of games – 102 – before Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk fired beyond Henry Bonello from the edge of the box after 20 minutes.
Depay teed up Xavi Simons to score after the break while substitutes Donyell Malen struck twice and Noa Lang once before Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven completed the rout as the Dutch made it two wins from two in Group G.
At the weekend, the Netherlands won in Finland, who rebounded by beating Poland 2-1 in Helsinki, where there was a lengthy break in play because a supporter had to be treated in the stands.
Joel Pohjanpalo scored a penalty and Benjamin Kallman came off the bench to net, Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior pulling one back before a second-half delay. The Football Association of Finland tweeted the fan was taken to hospital, before the final minutes were played just after midnight local time with the hosts holding on to win.
Austria claimed back-to-back wins in Group H by sweeping aside minnows San Marino 4-0 in Serravalle thanks to a double from Marko Arnautovic.
The veteran Inter Milan forward found the net twice inside the first quarter of an hour, with Michael Gregoritsch also on target, before Christoph Baumgartner completed the rout.
Arnautovic missed out on a treble after his late penalty was saved by Edoardo Colombo.
Florin Tanase and Dennis Man both struck just before half-time as Romania defeated Cyprus 2-0 in Bucharest.
In Group K, England’s rivals Serbia claimed a 3-0 win over Andorra in Leskovac thanks to an Aleksandar Mitrovic hat-trick, while Latvia and Albania drew 1-1 in Riga where Latvia’s Antonijs Cernomordijs scored for both teams and Janis Ikaunieks missed a penalty.
Australia sealed qualification for the World Cup for the sixth consecutive time with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah .
The Socceroos only had to avoid a five-goal defeat to confirm their appearance and goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke earned the Australians a come-from-behind win to brush aside the Saudis.
Abdulrahman Al-Obud had given the home side a glimmer of hope when he netted from close range in the 19th minute but Metcalfe equalised with three minutes left in the half to extinguish Saudi dreams.
Duke then put the visitors in front in the 48th minute when he glanced Martin Boyle's free kick past Nawaf Al-Aqidi before Mat Ryan, making his 100th appearance for his country, saved a late penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari an equaliser.
The win confirms the Australians as second-place finisher in Group C behind Japan, who secured their spot at the finals in March.
