Belarus recorded their first World Cup Qualifying win by beating Bulgaria 2-1 at Borisov Arena. A thirty-third minute penalty goal from forward Mikhail Sivakov opened the scoring for Belarus before first half break. Pavel Sawicki's long range finish doubled the lead for the hosts in the eightieth minutes, before Bulgaria pulled-back a “consolation” goal. Belarus remains in the fifth spot, while Bulgaria are four-points better in fourth place.
Elsewhere, in the UEFA World Cup qualifiers, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece shared the points in Sarajevo, while Group H leaders Belgium walkover 10 men Estonia.
Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal to a vital road victory at Latvia, while in Group A,the Netherlands eased past Luxembourg. Here's a quick recaps of some UEFA World Cup qualifying matches that went down last weekend.
Latvia 0, Portugal 3
Second place Portugal used a pair of goal from Skipper Cristiano Ronaldo to “cruise” their way to an emphatic 3-0 win over hosts Latvia. Cristiano Ronaldo forty-first minute brilliant header opened the scoring, finishing off Jose Fonte's rebound effort. Later in the sixty-third minute, Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead for the visitors, heading home from close-range. Minutes before stoppage time, Andre Silva extended Portugal's lead to 3-0, finishing off Cristiano Ronaldo's through ball.
With this road victory, Portugal now sits second with fifteen points, while Latvia stays bottom on three-points in Group B
The Netherlands 5, Luxembourg 0
The Netherlands saw five different goal scorers last Friday night, as they whitewashed Luxembourg 5-0 at De Kuip. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben gave the Oranje a 2-0 lead before half time.
Later in the sixtieth minute, Midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum extended the hosts' lead to 3-0, before forward Quincy Promes made it 4-0 with a close-range header. An eighty-fourth minute penalty kick goal from Vincent Janssen “capped” the final score-line at 5-0. The Oranje sit third, three-points behind table (Group A) joint-leaders France and Sweden, while Luxembourg sit bottom and win-less with just one point.
Estonia 0, Belgium 2
Belgium used goals in each half to cruise past Estonia 2-0. An eighty-sixth minute “insurance” goal from forward Nacer Chadli apparently sealed the crucial road victory for the Red Devils, who were “rarely” threatened throughout the encounter. Dries Merten got the opener in the thirty-first minutes, striking from close-range. Afterwards, Estonia were reduced to 10 men before half time as defender Artjom Dmitrijev was issued a straight red-card for a foul committed on center midfielder Morauane Fellaini.
The hosts apparently failed to attempt a single shot on target, while the Belgians recorded 10 shots. With this victory, Belgium maintains their lead in Group H with sixteen points, while Estonia remains in the fifth-place on four points.