Shevchenko's Ukraine upset Turkey

Striker Andriy Shevchenko scored twice as Ukraine upset Turkey 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier yesterday to move clear at the top of Group Two.

The convincing victory raised Ukraine's points tally to 11, five clear of nearest rivals Turkey, Albania and Denmark.

In Tbilisi, Georgia came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with the Danes while Euro champions Greece, also in Group Two, are back in the reckoning after beating lowly Kazakhstan 3-1.

Ukraine midfielder Oleg Gusev opened the scoring after nine minutes, latching on to a pass from Andriy Voronin and firing the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Shevchenko doubled the visitors' lead after 17 minutes when he raced away from a shaky Turkish defence on the break and sent a shot from inside the area wide of goalkeeper Rustu Recber.

The Milan forward sealed an emphatic victory for Ukraine in the dying minutes, jumping acrobatically to hook a cross into the net from close range.

Another Milan striker was on the mark yesterday when Denmark took the lead through Jon Dahl Tomasson in the ninth minute after a mistake in the Georgian defence. The hosts, however, drew level 10 minutes before half-time when Giorgi Demetradze headed in a cross from Levan Kobiashvili.

Tomasson got his and Denmark's second in the 64th minute, courtesy of a Niclas Jensen pass, but again Georgia hit back as Malkhaz Asatiani got past several defenders to score 14 minutes from time.

In Krasnodar, Russia rebounded from last month's 7-1 thrashing by Portugal with a morale-boosting 4-0 victory over Estonia in a Group Three match.

Russia, who desperately needed to revive their flagging hopes of reaching the 2006 World Cup finals, hit three goals in a nine-minute spell midway through the first half.

Andrei Karayka began the onslaught with a free-kick that eluded Estonia goalkeeper Martin Kaalma in the 23rd minute before assisting for Marat Izmailov two minutes later.

Izmailov's Lokomotiv Moscow team-mate Dmitry Sychev made it 3-0 with a 25-metre blast into the top corner in the 32nd minute to the delight of a capacity 28,000 crowd in the southern city.

Lokomotiv captain Dmitry Loskov added a fourth with a 67th-minute penalty to seal a comfortable win for the home side who swap places with Estonia to move to third in the group, three points behind Slovakia and six adrift of leaders Portugal who trounced lowly Luxembourg away 5-0.

Striker Pauleta scored twice to lead Portugal's rout.

Portugal went ahead after 11 minutes when striker Luis Boa Morte tapped in after defender Paulo Ferreira crossed from the right.

Winger Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second goal with a header from a corner by playmaker Deco Sousa. Midfielder Maniche Ribeiro added the third in the 51st minute with a shot from just outside area.

Pauleta claimed his first after 66 minutes and added a penalty seven minutes from time.

Czechs leave it late

Late goals from substitute Vratislav Lokvenc and Jan Koller spared the Czech Republic's blushes and handed the visitors a 2-0 win against Macedonia in a Group One qualifier.

The Czechs, who lost striker Milan Baros to an early injury, had struggled to break down a well-organised Macedonia side beaten by Andorra in their last game.

Lokvenc's appearance as a 76th-minute substitute to partner fellow beanpole striker Koller changed the course of the game.

VfL Bochum's Lokvenc headed home Karel Poborsky's cross three minutes from time to break the home side's resistance.

Koller then sealed victory in the 90th minute with a header from Marek Jankulovski's cross.

The Czechs, beaten by the Netherlands in the opening qualifier, have won their last three games to sit on nine points from four games.