Goals galore in Euro 2016 qualifiers
Matchday 5 of the Euro 2016 qualifying round was played between Friday and Sunday.
PARIS/LONDON - France recovered from last week's defeat by Brazil when Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud earned a second-string side a 2-0 home friendly win over Denmark in St Etienne on Sunday.
Lacazette, who was booed by the crowd before kickoff because he plays for St Etienne's bitter rivals Olympique Lyonnais, was then loudly cheered when he scored France's first in the 14th minute.
Giroud doubled their tally before the interval as Les Bleus, the Euro 2016 hosts, cantered to a win that showed their strength in depth.
Denmark, who beat the United States 3-2 in a friendly on Wednesday in Aarhus, were much better in the second half with Nicklas Bendtner being denied by Stephane Ruffier's brilliant save in the 65th minute.
They lie second in their Euro qualifying Group I with seven points from four games, two adrift of Portugal.
PORTUGAL LEAD GROUP I
Portugal climbed to the top of the group with a hard-fought 2-1 win over a resolute Serbia side.
Portugal midfielders Tiago, Joao Moutinho and Fabio Coentrao maintained a firm grip on the match and only when Serbia equalised through a brilliant goal by Nemanja Matic early in the second half did the visitors look likely to get a result.
Portugal struck after 10 minutes when stalwart defender Ricardo Carvalho glanced a well-placed header into the net from close range.
Midfielder Nemanja Matic was a bright spark for a subdued Serbian side that lacked creativity, with Chelsea right back Branislav Ivanovic struggling as a central defender and at fault for Carvahlo's goal.
Matic, playing on his old Benfica stamping ground to great effect, connected with a breathtaking left-foot scissor kick to make it 1-1 after 61 minutes.
But Portugal struck straight back through man-of-the-match Coentrao, who slid in Joao Moutinho's low cross at the far post to cap an energetic performance.
Portugal saw out the remaining minutes without any major scares, bringing on Ricardo Quaresma to keep the overworked Serbian defence pinned back as world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo produced an unusually quiet performance.
NO TURKISH DELIGHT FOR DUTCH
The Netherlands scored in stoppage time through a deflected Wesley Sneijder shot to secure a 1-1 draw with Turkey on Saturday and avoid their first ever home defeat in qualifying.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar got a slight deflection to a long-range strike from captain Sneijder in the 92nd minute to rescue a point for the Dutch, who looked to be heading to their third defeat in five matches in Group A.
Burak Yilmaz scored in the 37th minute at the Amsterdam Arena, given time in the penalty area to fire off a shot that took a deflection off Bruno Martins Indi to put the Turks ahead at halftime.
The Netherlands stayed third in the standings with seven points from five games.
Turkey have five points at the halfway point of the qualifying campaign.
THE BALE & RAMSEY SHOW
Two goals from Gareth Bale and another from Aaron Ramsey gave Wales an emphatic 3-0 win over hosts Israel and took them to the top of Group B.
The Welsh, looking for a place in a major finals for the first time since playing in the World Cup in 1958, knocked Israel from the top of the group and they have 11 points from five matches.
ALL RESULTS
SUNDAY
Group D
Georgia 0-2 Germany
Scotland 6-1 Gibraltar
R. of Ireland 1-1 Poland
Group F
Northern Ireland 2-1 Finland
Romania 1-0 Faroe Islands
Hungary 0-0 Greece
Group I
Albania 2-1 Armenia
Portugal 2-1 Serbia
France 2-0 Denmark
SATURDAY
Group A
Kazakhstan 0-3 Iceland
Czech Rep. 1-1 Latvia
Netherlands 1-1 Turkey
Group B
Israel 0-3 Wales
Andorra 0-3 Bos-Herce
Belgium 5-0 Cyprus
Group H
Azerbaijan 2-0 Malta
Croatia 5-1 Norway
Bulgaria 2-2 Italy
FRIDAY
Group C
Macedonia 1-2 Belarus
Slovakia 3-0 Luxembourg
Spain 1-0 Ukraine
Group E
England 4-0 Lithuania
Slovenia 6-0 San Marino
Switzerland 3-0 Estonia
Group G
Liechtenstein 0-5 Austria
Moldova 0-2 Sweden