Ireland stunned World Cup winners Germany with a stoppage time equaliser by John O’Shea on his 100th appearance to draw 1-1 in their Euro 2016 qualifier last night.
The Germans were in complete command, as they had been in their 2-0 defeat to Poland in Warsaw on Saturday, and had a bagful of chances against the Irish, but were again missing the finishing touch.
Toni Kroos seemed to have rescued the three points for the injury-hit Germans and settled the nerves of 50,000 fans in Gelsenkirchen with a powerful low drive.
But O’Shea silenced the home crowd with his stoppage-time goal to punish lacklustre Germany.
The result left Ireland on top of the group on seven points alongside Poland with the Germans trailing three points behind.
Poland’s fairytale triumph over Germany was quickly overtaken by a touch of anti-climax in Warsaw yesterday as they found themselves held to a 2-2 draw by Scotland in a thrilling Euro 2016 qualifier.
A fevered crowd had expected more of the same from their new heroes in the National Stadium following their historic win over the world champions but had to watch them come from behind to earn a point with a 76th minute goal from Arkadiusz Milik.
The home team poured forward in the dying minutes and Kamil Grosicki came closest to earning another famous win for the hosts when he hit the post.
Yet Scotland, who had won a friendly in this stadium in March, again looked like a rejuvenated side under Gordon Strachan’s stewardship as they rebounded from the early setback of Krzysztof Maczynski’s 12th minute goal.
Six minutes later, Shaun Maloney equalised after a superb Scottish move and Steven Naismith gave them a glimpse of glory when he provided a neat sliding finish to James Morrison’s free kick after 57 minutes.
The politically-sensitive qualifier between Serbia and Albania was abandoned following a brawl between players from both sides.
The Group I game was interrupted when a flag depicting so-called Greater Albania, an area covering all parts of the Balkans where ethnic Albanians live, was flown over the terraces and pitch by what appeared to be a remote controlled mini drone near the end of the first half.
A Serbian player eventually grabbed the flag at the Partizan stadium, prompting a melee involving numerous players. Riot police then moved in when around a dozen fans invaded the pitch and players retreated into the tunnel as flares were thrown from the terraces.
After a delay of around half an hour, English referee Martin Atkinson abandoned the game.
A headed goal in second-half injury time by Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a much-needed 1-0 win over Denmark in Group I.
Ronaldo rose to meet Ricardo Quaresma’s cross and bury his header past Kasper Schmeichel to claim all three points.
Denmark’s best chance of the match came when Pierre Hojbjerg muscled his way through and fed Christian Eriksen, who teed up Michael Krohn-Dehli to fire in a shot that came back off the far post.
Results and standings
Group D
Germany 1
Kroos 71;
Ireland 1
O’Shea 90;
Poland 2
Maczynski 12; Milik 76;
Scotland 2
Maloney 18; Naismith 57;
Gibraltar 0
Georgia 3
Gelashvili 9; Okriashvili 19; Kankava 69;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Poland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 7 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 7 |
| Scotland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Georgia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Gibraltar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
Group E
San Marino 0
Switzerland 4
Seferovic 10, 24; Dzemaili 30; Shaqiri 79;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| England | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
| Slovenia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Lithuania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Estonia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| San Marino | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Group F
Faroe Islands 0
Hungary 1
Szalai 22;
Finland 0
Romania 2
Stancu 54, 83;
Red card: Ring (F) 56.
Greece 0
N. Ireland 2
Ward 9; Lafferty 51;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| N. Ireland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| Romania | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Finland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Hungary | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Greece | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| F. Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Group I
Denmark 0
Portugal 1
Ronaldo 90;
Serbia 0
Albania 0
(match abandoned after 42 minutes following a player brawl)
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Albania | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Denmark | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Portugal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Serbia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Armenia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Friendly match
Armenia 0
France 3
Remy 7; Gignac 55; Griezmann 84;