Group Round-up.
GROUP A:Polan lost valuable points when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat in Armenia yesterday. Hamlet Mkhitaryan fired a free kick into the top corner in the 70th minute to give the home team their second win in seven games. Finland kept their faint hopes alive with a 2-0 win at home to nearest rivals Belgium. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan drew 1-1.
Despite the defeat the Poles still lead the group with 19 points from nine matches, five points ahead of both Portugal and Serbia, who have two games in hand each, with Finland also on 14 from eight games.
GROUP B:Samir Nasri netted his first international goal in his third appearance to earn France a 1-0 home victory over Georgia to remain top of the table. France now have 18 points from seven games and lead second-placed Italy by two points after the World champions beat Lithuania 2-0.
Scotland got their campaign back on track with a 2-0 win in the Faroe Islands. The tiny North Atlantic outpost has not been a happy hunting ground in the past but the curse of the Faroes finally came to an end thanks to goals from Shaun Maloney and Garry O'Connor.
GROUP C:Striker John Carew scored two goals and set up a third as Norway crushed Hungary 4-0 to stay in the hunt in a close group. Veteran striker Steffen Iversen headed in Martin Andersen's corner in the 21st minute to settle Norway.
"We have finally shown that we can succeed and gained new faith in what we are doing," Norway coach Aage Hareide told reporters after the win. Norway have 13 points from seven games, level with Bosnia, who beat Malta 1-0, and Turkey, who have a game in hand, and five points behind group leaders Greece, who beat Moldova 2-1 with a last-gasp goal last night.
GROUP F:Sweden demolished visitors Iceland 5-0 to top the group. The Swedes are awaiting Uefa's verdict on the outcome of their abandoned qualifying game with Denmark last weekend lead on goal difference.
Striker David Villa scored twice to earn Spain a 2-0 win away to Liechtenstein that lifted them into second place in the group.
Villa put Spain ahead in the eighth minute when he slotted home from a tight angle after rounding the goalkeeper and doubled his tally with a spectacular overhead kick soon after.
Denmark beat bottom of the table Latvia 2-0 to stay in touch.
GROUP G:Adrian Mutu's header and a Cosmin Contra volley gave Romania a 2-0 win over Slovenia to go two points clear at the top of the table. Romania have 17 points, two more than Bulgaria, who beat Belarus 2-1, after seven games.
The Netherlands, who have a match in hand, are third on 14 points.Mutu headed home five minutes from the break after Dorin Goian's header had hit the crossbar in the 30th minute.
Cosmin Contra killed of the visitors with a perfect 25-metre volley after a corner from the left.
Bottom-placed Luxembourg were defeated by Albania 3-0.
