ITALY SURVIVED A nervy second half in an unconvincing 1-0 win over Bulgaria in Palermo to edge closer to 2014 World Cup qualification after extending their lead in Group B to seven points on Friday.
Injuries and the suspension of three players, notably AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli, forced Italy coach Cesare Prandelli to opt for a makeshift 4-3-2-1 formation with Alberto Gilardino deployed as the lone striker.
Prandelli’s tactic ultimately paid off with Gilardino heading home from Antonio Candreva’s cross late in the first half.
The night’s other big shock nearly came in Belfast as Northern Ireland followed up their recent win over Russia by coming from behind to lead 2-1 after 52 minutes in Group F.
However, a 15-minute Ronaldo hat-trick put paid to any hopes Michael O’Neill’s men had of making it back-to-back big-name scalps in the group and the three points keeps Portugal two clear of Russia having played a game more.
Group A
Wales and Scotland both lost as Belgium took control of Group A after Croatia and Serbia could only draw tonight. The results mean Belgium are now 5 points clear at the top of the group.
Macedonia 2 (Trickovski 21, Trajkovski 80) Wales 1 (Ramsey 39-pen)
Scotland 0 Belgium 2 (Defour 38, Mirallas 89)
Serbia 1 (Mitrovic 66) Croatia 1 (Mandzukic 53)
Group B
Czech Republic 1 (Rosicky 70) Armenia 2 (Mkrtchyan 31, Ghazaryan 90)
Malta 1 (Failla 38) Denmark 2 (Andreasen 2, Camilleri 53-og)
Italy 1 (Gilardino 38) Bulgaria 0
Group C
Kazakhstan 2 (Nurdauletov 50-pen, Finonchenko 64) Faroe Islands 1 (Benjaminsen 23)
Republic of Ireland 1 (Keane 21) Sweden 2 (Elmander 33, Svensson 57)
Germany 3 (Klose 33, Kroos 51, Mueller 88) Austria 0
Group D
A last gasp Robin van Persie penalty spared the Netherlands’ blushes in Estonia this evening but a 3-0 win for Romania over Hungary keeps them in the hunt. However, with six points in hand, Group D is still the Dutch’s to lose.
Romania 3 (Marica 2, Pintilii 31, Tanase 88) Hungary 0
Turkey 5 (Bulut 35, 39, 68, Yilmaz 61, Turan 90+3) Andorra 0
Estonia 2 (Vassiljev 17, 56) Netherlands 2 (Robben 1, Van Persie 90+3-pen)
Group E
Switzerland and Iceland played out a 4-4 draw in Bern this evening but, despite Norway’s 2-0 win over Cyprus, the Swiss still sit atop Group E, four points clear of the Norwegians.
Norway 2 (Elyounoussi 43, King 66) Cyprus 0
Switzerland 4 (Lichtsteiner 15, 30, Schar 27, Dzemaili 54-pen) Iceland 4 (Johann Berg Gudmundsson 3, 68, 90+1, Sigthorsson 56)
Slovenia 1 (Kampl 19) Albania 0
Group F
Russia 4 (Kokorin 1, 36, Kerzhakov 60, Samedov 90+2) Luxembourg 1 (Joachim 90)
Northern Ireland 2 (McAuley 36, Ward 52) Portugal 4 (Bruno Alves 20, Cristiano Ronaldo 68, 77, 83)
Group G
A loss for Bosnia at home to Slovakia coupled with a scrappy 1-0 win for Greece over Liechtenstein means it’s all square on 16 points at the top of Group G. However, the Slovakians, four points off the pace, can’t be ruled out just yet.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 Slovakia 1 (Pecovsky 77)
Liechtenstein 0 Greece 1 (Mitroglou 72)
Latvia 2 (Bulvitis 20, Zjuzins 42) Lithuania 1 (Matulevicius 44)
Group H
A comfortable 4-0 win for England over Moldova was slightly tarnished by a booking for Danny Welbeck that sees him ruled out of Tuesday’s key clash with Ukraine. The Ukrainians scored nine past the hapless San Marino, their goals coming from eight different scorers. The results mean England and Montenegro both sit on 15 points, with Ukraine one point back.
Ukraine 9 (Devic 11, Seleznov 26, Edmar 32, Khacheridi 46, 54, Konoplyanka 50, Bezus 63, Fedetskiy 74, Rakitskiy 90+3) San Marino 0
Poland 1 (Lewandowski 16) Montenegro 1 (Damjanovic 11)
England 4 (Gerrard 12, Lambert 27, Welbeck 45+1, 50) Moldova 0
Group I
World champions Spain moved to within touching distance of a place at next year’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. pain are now three points clear of France with just two games remaining in Group I after Didier Deschamps’ men could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Georgia.
Georgia 0 France 0
Finland 0 Spain 2 (Alba 19, Negredo 86)
Additional reporting by AFP.
