Thursday 7 November 2019 11:44, UK
Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan was on target for Armenia, while Germany cruised and the Home Nations triumphed on a busy night of World Cup qualifying action.
Mkhitaryan, who saw a first-half shot hit a post, broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute against 10-man Kazakhstan - his 20th international goal - before Aras Ozbiliz secured a 2-0 Group E win.
Kazakhstan, who stayed bottom, are without a win and had defender Sergiy Maliy sent off in the 64th minute after his ill-timed tackle on Mkhitaryan earned him a second yellow card.
Group C rivals, the Czech Republic gave their qualification hopes a boost by thrashing San Marino 6-0 in Serravalle.
Four goals in nine minutes midway through the first half put the Czech Republic in complete control, with two from Antonin Barak sandwiching Vladimir Darida's effort before Theodor Gebre Selassie made it 4-0.
Michal Krmencik slotted a fifth just before half-time and Hertha Berlin midfielder Darida scored his second from the penalty spot in the 77th minute after Davide Simoncini's foul on Jaromir Zmrhal.
Elsewhere, Germany maintained their 100 per cent record at the top of World Cup qualifying Group C with a comfortable 4-1 win in Azerbaijan.
Joachim Low's side conceded their first goal in qualifying, but made it five wins out of five to maintain their comfortable lead in the table.
Dimitrij Nazarov cancelled out Andre Schurrle's close-range opener in Baku, but Germany responded through Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez to lead 3-1 at the break and Schurrle emphatically netted his second in the 81st minute.
Gareth Southgate's side have not lost a qualification match in a major tournament since October 2009 and after registering a fifth straight clean sheet in their group, extended their run to 34 without a defeat.
Defoe, who won his last England cap against Chile in November 2013, struck his 20th goal for his country and his first in more than four years to give England a 21st-minute lead after good work by Raheem Sterling.
Adam Lallana set up Jamie Vardy in the 66th minute to help seal England's fourth win in five qualifying matches.
Later on, Northern Ireland consolidated second place behind Group C leaders Germany with a 2-0 win against Norway at Windsor Park thanks to first-half goals from Jamie Ward and Conor Washington.
Michael O'Neill's side secured their third group win and are two points ahead of third-placed Czech Republic to maintain high hopes of qualification for a second successive major tournament.
The province made a flying start, with Ward scoring his fourth goal for his country in their first attack after 87 seconds.
Norway struck the crossbar through St Etienne forward Alexander Soderlund's first-half volley, but Washington's cool finish put the Irish 2-0 up at half-time and they are now unbeaten in eight competitive home matches.
Chris Martin's late goal clinched Scotland a crucial 1-0 win against Group F rivals Slovenia at Hampden Park to give their qualifying hopes a huge lift.
Substitute Martin fired home a low angled shot in the 88th minute to secure Gordon Strachan's side a timely and much-deserved win.
Leigh Griffiths' first-half shot hit a post, but Scotland's second group win lifted them up to fourth in the table, two points behind second-placed Slovakia, who won 3-1 in Malta.
Malta striker Jean Paul Farrugia cancelled out Vladimir Weiss' second-minute opener, but Slovakia regained the lead through Jan Gregus and Adam Nemec added a late third before he was shown a straight red card for his foul on Zach Muscat.
Poland extended their lead at the top of Group E to six points after a 2-1 win against closest rivals Montenegro in Podgorica.
Robert Lewandowski's free-kick gave Poland the lead five minutes before the interval and although Stefan Mugosa equalised after the break, Lukasz Piszczek's late winner secured his unbeaten side their fourth group win.
Montenegro still lie second, while Denmark and Romania remain third and fourth respectively following their goalless draw in Cluj.
