11 October 2006: Ukraine 1-3 Italy (Tbilisi)
Italy capped a very good week Euro 2008 qualifying by beating ten-man Georgia 3-1 in Tbilisi.
After Georgi Shashiashvili cancelled out Daniele De Rossi's opener for the Azzurri, Roberto Donadoni's team took control with the sending-off on the hour of Georgia midfielder Jaba Kankava, and Mauro Camoranesi restored the lead before Simone Perrotta sealed the points.
Italy had taken only one point from their first two games, but followed up their weekend defeat of Ukraine with a second successive victory. With Donadoni bringing Alessandro Nesta, Perrotta, Camoranesi and Antonio Di Natale into the side tonight, they came out with all guns blazing, although that attacking intent was stymied by a Georgia offside trap which caught the visitors five times early on.
The World champions eventually broke through on 18 minutes, De Rossi scoring with a long-range strike that bounced awkwardly in front of Georgia keeper Georgi Lomaia. When the Azzurri sat on their advantage, Klaus Toppmoller's team came forward and with their first meaningful foray, equalised. A ball was half-cleared as far as Shashiashvili who returned it with interest past Gianluigi Buffon.
In reply, Luca Toni blazed wide at the far post, before squandering a golden chance moments later after Gianluca Zambrotta found him unmarked inside the area, failing even to test Lomaia. Nonetheless, Donadoni and company could have been trailing at half-time, with Zurab Khizanishvili rattling the far post having already beaten Buffon.
Although Italy began the second half brightly, Georgia missed another opportunity when Kankava prompted a routine stop from Buffon. A minute later, the same player received his marching orders, collecting a second caution for a challenge on Andrea Pirlo. It was a bitter blow for the hosts and Italy took full advantage.
They were in front on 63 minutes through Camoranesi's header at the far post from Di Natale's cross. The home side had little time to react before it was 3-1, Perrotta profiting from a poor clearance by the Georgia defence to rifle past Lomaia. Late on, De Rossi could have scored again but his free-kick fizzed just past the post.
While Italy race to seven points from four games, Georgia remain on three, before both sides resume their campaigns against Scotland in March. The Azzurri are now two points behind France and Scotland.
Georgia: Lomaia, Khizanishvili, Khizaneishvili, Kaladze,Shashiashvili, Kankava (Iashvili 70),Tskitishvili (Kandelaki 74), Menteshashvili,Martsvaladze (Gigiadze 85), Kvirkvelia, Ashvetia.
Italy: Buffon, Oddo, Cannavaro (Materazzi 74), Nesta,Pirlo (Mauri 64), De Rossi, Perrotta, Zambrotta,Camoranesi (Iaquinta 87), Toni, Di Natale.
Ref: Michael Riley (England).
Other Group B Matches
Scotland's fantastic start to Euro 2008 qualifying came to a halt as they toppled to a 2-0 defeat in Kiev. The Scots adopted a defensive approach but their stubborn resistance was broken on the hour by a close range shot from Olexander Kucher. Kenny Miller hit the crossbar with a speculative effort and headed a wonderful chance wide on 80 minutes. But Scotland lost Steven Pressley to a red card and Ukraine captain Andriy Shevchenko converted a late penalty. The sending off and the penalty were harsh but Scotland can have no complaints about the result.
France soared to go joint top of the group with a 5-0 win at home to Faroe Islands. Louis Saha and Thierry Henry started up front for Les Bleus and it did not take long for the Manchester United man to continue his prolific start to the season with the game's opening goal after just 37 seconds. His Premiership rival Henry doubled the lead on 22 minutes as it seemed the floodgates might open in Paris. But that was not to be the case thanks to a stoic fightback from the visitors and some poor finishing from the World Cup finalists. Raymond Domenech eventually bit the bullet, substituting his goal-scoring front two for Nicolas Anelka and David Trezeguet on the hour mark. And it turned out to be an inspired substitution, as Anelka scored the third on 77 minutes. Not to be outdone, Trezeguet bagged a brace with strikes in the 78th and 84th minute, as Faroe Islands remain bottom, with just one point to show from five games so far.
Group A
The result of the day in Group A came in Chorzow as Leo Beenhakker's Poland defeated Portugal 2-1. Luis Felipe Scolari's side may have reached the World Cup semi-finals but they have struggled so far in qualifying for Euro 2008 and now have just four points from three games following the defeat on their travels. Poland's match-winner was Ebi Smolarek with the Borussia Dortmund forward scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes. Smolarek took just nine minutes to drill a shot past Ricardo, and after another nine minutes he repeated the feat by converting a cross from Grzegorz Rasiak. Nuno Gomes did hit back deep into injury time but it was too little, too late for Scolari's men.
Serbia continued to impress with a 3-0 home win over Armenia that sees them sitting pretty at the top of the group with ten points from four games. However, it was not all one way traffic as Serbia had to wait until the 54th minute to take the lead through Dejan Stankovic's penalty after Nikola Zigic had been fouled by Armenian keeper Gevorg Kasparov. Inside eight minutes their advantage had doubled as substitute Danko Lazovic headed home Ivica Dragutinovic cross, and Zigic rounded off proceedings with a third in injury time after Rafael Nazarian had been dismissed for Ian Porterfield's men.
Finland continued their unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory away at Kazakhstan to stay second in the group. Veteran forward Jari Litmanen opened the scoring after 27 minutes as the visitors bounced back from a disappointing 0-0 draw in Armenia at the weekend, tapping home from close range after Mikael Forssell's shot was saved. Being an early kick-off the tie in Almaty gave Roy Hodgson's side the chance to move top of the group, temporarily at least, and Sami Hyypia made sure of the points on 65 minutes when he headed home from Joonas Kolkka's cross.
Belgium moved third, ahead of Poland on goal difference, following a 3-0 home win over Azerbaijan in Brussels. Timmy Simons opened the scoring for Rene Vandereycken's side from the penalty spot after 24 minutes, scoring Belgium's second goal in qualifying in the process. Kevin Vandenbergh doubled the lead two minutes after the break, and substitute Moussa Dembele added a third with eight minutes to go. Incredibly that was not Dembele's last contribution of the game as the AZ Alkmaar man still had time to be dismissed with five minutes to go due to violent conduct.
Group C
Turkey did their goal difference a world of good by thrashing Moldova 5-0, with Hakan Sukur hitting the net four times. Sukur had a hat trick before half-time, with three goals in the final 10 minutes of the half (35, 37 pen, 43). Not content to sit on a three-goal lead, the hosts continued to push for more goals and Sanli Tuncay added the fourth on 68 minutes. Sukur finished the scoring 17 minutes from time before being replaced by Halil Altintop in the closing stages.
European champions Greece kept up their 100 percent start to the qualifying campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Angelos Charisteas' penalty (8) put the visitors in front, but it took until eight minutes from the end for the Greeks to double their advantage against the ten men of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sasa Papac was dismissed on 50 minutes for the home side and Christos Patsatzoglou finally opened the floodgates (82), with Georgios Samaras and Kostas Katsouranis both adding to the score line late on.
Malta were shock 2-1 winners over Hungary to claim their first competitive victory since 1993. Dusan Fitzel's men came into the game with defeats in their opening two matches but would claim three points against the ten men of Hungary. Andre Schembri fired Malta ahead on 14 minutes, but Sandor Torghelle equalised five minutes later. Vilmos Vanczak saw red for Hungary (38) for foul and abusive language and his sending off paved the way for a home win. Schembri stepped up to net his second (53) and the visitors were unable to mount a comeback with a man down.
Group D
Germany maintained their 100 percent record in the group with a 4-1 win over Slovakia. The World Cup semi-finalists raced into a three-goal lead at the break to put the game beyond Slovakia. Lukas Podolski broke the deadlock on 13 minutes to put Germany in front. Michael Ballack doubled the lead for the visitors on 25 minutes, before Bayern Munich ace Bastian Schweinsteiger got in on the act on 36 minutes with the third goal for Germany. Stanislav Varga pulled a goal back for Slovakia just before the hour mark to give them some hope, but Germany wrapped up the victory 18 minutes from time with Podolski netting his second goal of the game. The win moves Germany onto nine points and they sit in second spot behind group leaders Czech Republic.
Wales found the perfect response to Saturday's mauling by beating Cyprus 3-1 in Cardiff to claim their first points of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Jason Koumas struck first with a header after 33 minutes and Robert Earnshaw converted Craig Bellamy's low cross to double the lead seven minutes later. Captain Bellamy capped a magnificent individual display by adding a third with a cool finish on 72 minutes. But Yiannis Okkas denied Wales a clean sheet with superb lob late on.
The Republic of Ireland produced a much-improved display but had to settle for a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic. It gave the Irish their first point from three qualifiers and should be enough to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Steve Staunton. Roared on by the Lansdowne Road crowd, the Republic went ahead when Kevin Kilbane blasted in after 61 minutes. But the lead lasted just two minutes as Jan Koller's low shot crept inside the far post to bring the Czechs level. Despite now having dropped eight points out of nine, this was a heartening display from the Republic who were heavily criticised after their 5-2 defeat in Cyprus on Saturday.
Group E
Paul Robinson was left embarrassed as England crashed to a dismal 2-0 defeat against Croatia in Zagreb. Eduardo's header had given Croatia a deserved 61st minute lead before keeper Robinson was involved in a nightmare moment eight minutes later. Gary Neville's back-pass struck a divot as Robinson went to clear, and he watched in agony as the ball rolled in. Robinson had previously produced a string of saves to keep Croatia at bay.
Russia picked up their first three point haul in qualifying. Guus Hiddink's side broke their run of home draws with a late 2-0 win over Estonia to move onto five points from three games. Opening stalemates with Croatia and Israel did not bode well for the Russians, and after 77 goalless minutes in St Petersburg it looked like being the same old story. However, Tom Tomsk forward Pavel Pogrebniak put them en route to their first three points of the campaign with twelve minutes to go. With injury time approaching there was still time for Estonia to lose Raio Piiroja to a second yellow card, whilst Dmitry Sychev set the seal on the win for the hosts by netting with just seconds to go.
Srecko Katanec masterminded the end of Steve McClaren's 100 percent record on Saturday and his Macedonia troops produced that form again by securing a 3-0 win against the ten-man minnows of Andorra. Lazio hit-man Goran Pandev put the visitors in front after just 13 minutes when he produced a neat finish from Robert Petrov's cross, and the finisher turned provider just three minutes when Nikolce Noveski headed home his cross. Andorra had already accrued a minus 15 goal difference in their opening three games, and any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Tony Sivera was given a straight red card for violent conduct on 26 minutes. Macedonia failed to fully capitalise as they only added one more goal, with Ilco Naumoski slotting home from inside the box just after the half hour mark, but taking all three points in the Pyrenees gave them an enviable view from the summit of Group E alongside England, Croatia and Israel.
Group F
Sweden maintained their 100 percent winning record with a 2-1 victory in Iceland, while Denmark crushed Liechtenstein 4-0 to stay well placed for qualification. There was a thrilling opening ten minutes in Reykjavik, with both sides finding the back of the net. Iceland took the lead through Arnar Vidarsson (6), but Sweden responded quickly and equalised when Kim Kallstrom fired home just two minutes later. Christian Wilhelmsson then grabbed a winner for Sweden in the 59th minute to ensure that they remain five points clear of everybody else in the group.
Denmark, held to a surprise 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland at the weekend, returned to winning ways against minnows Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein held out for nearly half an hour, but once Daniel Jensen (29) struck, the result was never in doubt. Michael Gravgaard added a second three minutes later, before Jon Dahl Tomasson helped himself to a brace (51 and 64).
David Healy was Northern Ireland's hero again with his classy finish securing a deserved 1-0 win in Group F at Windsor Park. The home side dominated the first half but spurned a number of chances before Healy struck after 35 minutes. The Leeds United striker escaped his marker before slotting low into the bottom corner. Latvia posed more threat after the break with Maik Taylor blocking Girts Karlsons' close-range shot.
Group G
The Netherlands climbed to the top of Group G with a 2-1 home win over Albania. Marco Van Basten's men continued their unbeaten start to qualifying as Robin Van Persie's 15th minute strike set them on their way to victory. Arjan Beqaj's own goal minutes before half time looked like ensuring a comfortable evening, but the Dutch did not have it all their own way. Debatik Curri's strike mid-way through the second half made for a nervy end but the Dutch held on to leapfrog Romania into top spot.
Belarus picked up their first win of qualifying with a 4-2 victory over Slovenia at the Dinamo Stadium. The hosts were ahead mid-way through the first half when Denis Kovba found the back of the net. Their lead lasted less than a minute as Bostjan Cesar levelled and Klemen Lavric fired Slovenia in front just before the break. Two goals in eight second-half minutes from Sergey Kornilenko restored Belarus' lead and the victory was sealed five minutes from time through Vladimir Korytko.
Bulgaria were 1-0 winners away at Luxembourg, Aleksandar Tunchev scoring the only goal after 26 minutes.
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