CHISINAU -- Two goals in the last two
minutes by substitute Markus Allback gave Sweden a hard-earned
2-0 victory over Moldova in their World Cup qualifier on
Wednesday.
Moldova had battled to keep the score 0-0 for most of the
group four tie before Allback came on in the 81st minute.
Just eight minutes later, he broke the deadlock by getting
on the end of a pass from fellow substitute Mattias Jonsson,
drilling the ball home from close range past goalkeeper Denis
Romanenko.
Allback was in action just one minute later as Fredrik
Ljungberg passed to Celtic striker Henrik Larsson, who tapped
the ball through to Allback to score.
The win meant Sweden stayed in contention in group four, one
of the closest of all the qualifying groups.
Sweden and Slovakia and Turkey are tied at the top of the group with 11 points each.
Moldova remained second from bottom. Azerbaijan, beaten 3-1
by Slovakia earlier, were last.
Slovakia go top after 3-1 win over Azerbaijan
TRNAVA, Slovakia -- Slovakia took
provisional top slot in World Cup qualifying group four on
Wednesday after cruising to a 3-1 victory over Azerbaijan.
A 10,000-crowd at Trnava stadium cheered for the first time
after just 18 seconds, when Szilard Nemeth scored after an
exchange of short passes with Lubomir Meszaros.
Azerbaijan levelled just two minutes later, their first goal
in qualifying so far, when Vadim Vasilyev converted a penalty
for a foul by Slovak Robert Tomaschek in the area.
But Slovakia's leading duo put the match beyond Azerbaijan's
reach with Nemeth scoring his second in the 10th minute and
Meszaros adding his team's third in the 57th minute.
At the other end, Azerbaijan rarely troubled the Slovak
goalkeeper.
Turkey stay on track with triumph in Macedonia
SKOPJE -- Turkey kept their World Cup
hopes on course when they recovered from a goal down to beat
Macedonia 2-1 on Wednesday.
Midfielder Toni Micevski opened the scoring for the hosts in
the European group four qualifier from a long range free kick in
the 20th minute.
But Turkey levelled via a 68th minute own goal by Igor
Mitrevski then Umit Davala sealed victory a minute later from a
pass by Hakan Sukur.
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