Scotland came from behind to draw 1-1 with Ireland in their Euro 2016 qualifier yesterday and stay two points clear of their opponents in a likely battle for a third place play-off spot in Group D.
Jonathan Walters handed Ireland a deserved first half lead but Shaun Maloney’s deflected shot off the back of John O’Shea early in the second half kept Scottish hopes of reaching a first major championship in almost 20 years very much alive.
Ireland dominated the first half hour but were let down by their accuracy in the final third, handing little opportunity the way of Daryl Murphy, starting alone up front ahead of Shane Long and Ireland’s top scorer Robbie Keane.
When a cross finally found Murphy, the 32-year-old Ipswich Town striker forced David Marshall into an awkward save and from the resulting corner, another parried Murphy header fell at the feet of Walters to open the scoring on 38 minutes.
Murphy, top scorer in England’s second tier this season, could have made it 2-0 a minute from halftime but he failed to connect with another wickedly whipped in Robbie Brady corner.
Visitors’ equaliser
All that hard work was nullified two minutes into the second half when Maloney, whose strike at Celtic Park handed Ireland their only defeat of the campaign so far, was given too much space in the run up to O’Shea’s own goal.
Murphy could have put Ireland back in front within a minute after being put through by Wes Hoolahan, but he was denied by Marshall who had little to do for rest of the game as Ireland struggled to regain the initiative.
Group leaders Poland’s 4-0 win over Georgia means they are three points ahead of Scotland and five clear of Ireland.
Robert Lewandowski hit a dramatic hat-trick in the closing stages for Poland in Warsaw.
Lewandowski struck in the 89th minute and then twice in injury time as Poland finally put a realistic slant on the scoreline of a one-sided encounter.
World champions Germany moved two points clear of Scotland in second place after a comfortable 7-0 win over bottom-placed Gibraltar last night.
This match, at Algarve stadium in Faro, Portugal, was controlled by Maltese referee Clayton Pisani.
Cristiano RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo scored his third successive hat-trick for club and country as 10-man Portugal survived a big scare to beat Armenia 3-2 and remain clear at the top of their European Championship qualifying group.
Marcos Pizzelli’s brilliant 30-yard free-kick gave Armenia a surprise lead but Ronaldo equalised from the spot before half-time and the Real Madrid superstar then struck twice in three minutes before the hour to put Portugal in control in Yerevan.
That followed Ronaldo’s hat-tricks for Real in their final two league games against Espanyol and Getafe and increased his record-breaking tally of European Championship goals to 26.
However, Portugal were still made to sweat for the victory as they lost Tiago to a red card in the 62nd minute before seeing Armenia pull a goal back 10 minutes later through Hrayr Mkoyan.
Armenia pushed for what would have been a shock draw, but they could not find an equaliser as Portugal’s 10 men held on for the victory that keeps them on course for the Euro 2016 finals.
Zoltan Stieber claimed a late winner as Hungary recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Finland in their Euro 2016 qualifier at the Olympiastadion.
The former Aston Villa youth player netted after 82 minutes to claim all three points as Hungary widened the gap on fourth-placed Faroe Islands to five points in the Group F table and kept the pressure on the top two – Romania and Northern Ireland.
Group D
Played yesterday
Poland 4
Milik 62; Lewandowski 89, 90, 90+;
Georgia 0
Ireland 1
Walters 38;
Scotland 1
O’Shea 47og;
Gibraltar 0
Germany 7
Schurrle 28, 65, 71; Kruse 47, 81; Guendogan 51; Bellarabi 57;
Missed pen.: Schweinsteiger (Ger) 10.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Poland | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 14 |
| Germany | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 13 |
| Scotland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 11 |
| Ireland | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 9 |
| Georgia | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 3 |
| Gibraltar | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 34 | 0 |
Group F
Played yesterday
Finland 0
Hungary 1
Stieber 82;
Faroe Islands 2
Hansson 32; Olsen 70;
Greece 1
P’thathopoulos 84;
N. Ireland 0
Romania 0
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Romania | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 14 |
| N. Ireland | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 13 |
| Hungary | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| Faroe Isl. | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Finland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
| Greece | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
Group I
Played yesterday
Armenia 2
Pizzelli 14; Mkoyan 72;
Portugal 3
Ronaldo 29 pen; Ronaldo 55, 58;
Red card: Tiago (P) 62.
Denmark 2
Y. Poulsen 13; J. Poulsen 87;
Serbia 0
Missed penalty: Agger (D) 34.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Portugal | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| Denmark | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 10 |
| Albania | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Serbia (-3) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| Armenia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
Group C
Playing today
Ukraine vs Luxembourg (18.00)
Belarus vs Spain (20.45)
Slovakia vs Macedonia (20.45)
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Slovakia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 15 |
| Spain | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 12 |
| Ukraine | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| Belarus | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| Macedonia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| Luxembourg | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
Group E
Playing today
Estonia vs San Marino (18.00)
Slovenia vs England (18.00)
Lithuania vs Switzerland (20.45)
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| England | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Slovenia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 9 |
| Switzerland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| Lithuania | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 |
| Estonia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| San Marino | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
Group G
Playing today
Liechtenstein vs Moldova (18.00)
Russia vs Austria (18.00)
Sweden vs Montenegro (20.45)
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Austria | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 13 |
| Sweden | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 9 |
| Russia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 8 |
| Montenegro | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Liechtenstein | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 |
| Moldova | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 |