Portugal tonight reduced the odds of the Republic of Ireland earning automatic qualification from Group Two and moved into pole position for automatic World Cup qualification with a 3-1 win over Cyprus.
Cyprus gave the visitors a shock when Michalis Constantinou fired them into a 24th minute lead. The home side held their lead until the break but Nuno Gomes, who scored four times against Andorra on Saturday, equalised with a header after 47 minutes. Pauleta made it 2-1 from close range on 65 minutes and Sergio Conceicao made sure of the points six minutes later.
A win at home to Estonia in their final game on October 6 should secure the Portuguese top spot in the group, as they have a better goal difference than the Republic of Ireland. Both teams have 21 points from nine matches.
Another goal from red-hot striker Michael Owen and a late strike by Robbie Fowler enabled England to scrape a 2-0 World Cup victory over a hard-working Albania but it was still enough to send Sven Goran Eriksson's team to the top of group nine.
Northern Ireland's magnificent three-goal salvo in 12 minutes at the start of the second half ended Iceland's slim hopes of reaching the World Cup finals as the home side won 3-0 in a group three qualifier. On 48 minutes a Philip Mulryne cross from the right was headed out by Petur Marteinsson and David Healy swivelled to find the bottom corner with a sweet right foot shot for his seventh goal in 14 internationals.
Then just before the hour mark Hughes found the back of the net himself in a move he started and finished. He picked up the ball on the halfway line and sprayed a pass to the right where Gillespie beat the fullback. Hughes made a run to the near post and when Gillespie found him he made it 2-0 with the help of a post. On the hour George McCartney got his first international goal on his debut with a powerful close range header from Gillespie's right wing cross.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
