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The last of Southampton’s stars wrapped up the international break on Tuesday and it’s finally back to work in the Premier League.
Dusan Tadic and Serbia got the best of Saints teammate Shane Long, as they defeated the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Dublin behind Aleksandar Kolarov’s second-half winner.
The result at the Aviva Stadium, coupled with Wales’ 4-0 thrashing of Moldova, saw Ireland drop to third in Group D.
Tadic played 82 minutes of the contest whilst Long played the duration.
Mario Lemina, meanwhile, scored the match winner — a terrific looping strike from distance — in Gabon’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over the Ivory Coast.
Southampton's record signing, Mario Lemina, has just scored a sensational goal for Gabon!
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) September 5, 2017
What a strike pic.twitter.com/98tcFRockj
Japan, who had already qualified for the 2018 World Cup by virtue of their earlier victory against Australia, ended their campaign with defeat to Saudi Arabia. With the result, Saudi Arabia confirmed their place in Russia next summer finishing second in Group B.
Manolo Gabbiadini did not feature for Italy in their 1-0 win over Israel, as the Azzurri rebounded from their loss to Spain to stay second in Group H.