Euro 2008 round-up: Germany scraped a 2-1 win over Slovakia to move five points clear in Group D and take another stride towards qualifying for Euro 2008.
The result is a significant boost to Steve Staunton and his Republic of Ireland team.
Germany are now all but guaranteed of first place and automatic qualification but Slovakia - who were lurking behind Ireland in fourth - desperately needed a win to get back in the hunt.
Germany took an early lead when Jan Durica put the ball into his own net, under pressure from Miroslav Klose, but another own goal, this time from Germany's Christoph Metzelder, levelled the scores in the 20th minute.
Thomas Hitzlsperger gave Germany the lead two minutes before half-time with a fine header and the home side held on in a poor second half to make it six wins from seven games.
Germany lead the group with 19 points, with the Czech Republic second on 14 and Ireland third a point further back. Slovakia are fourth on nine.
Northern Ireland lost the leadership of Group F after Sweden routed Scandinavian rivals Iceland 5-0.
Goals from Marcus Allback (two), Anders Svensson, Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg and Markus Rosenberg did the damage for the hosts, who move two points clear of Nigel Worthington's new side.
Romania moved two points clear at the top of the group after completing the double over Slovenia with a 2-0 win in Timisoara.
Victor Piturca's side won 2-1 in Celje on Saturday and rounded off an excellent few days thanks to goal from Adrian Mutu and Cosmin Contra.
Albania climbed to fourth in the group G with a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg.
A brace from Edmond Kapllani added to Ervin Skela's opener sent Otto Baric's team to a second victory in four days over their opponents, following Saturday's 2-0 triumph in Tirana.
Finland improved their Group A qualifying chances with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Belgium.
Goals from former Charlton striker Jonatan Johansson and Aleksei Eremenko were enough for the hosts at the Olympiastadion.
Norway kept their Group C hopes firmly on track with a 4-0 win over Hungary.
Former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen got the ball rolling in the first half before substitute Daniel Braaten and two goals from Aston Villa forward John Carew made certain of the victory to move the Scandinavians level on points with second-placed Turkey.
Bulgaria came from a goal down to claim a 2-1 win over Belarus to boost their hopes of qualifying from Group F.
Roman Vasiluk opened the scoring with a fifth-minute penalty but Martin Petrov's free-kick hauled the home side level five minutes later. Chavdar Yankov completed the turnaround before half-time.
Two clinical David Villa strikes earned Spain their second Group F victory in a matter of days after seeing off Liechtenstein.
Villa netted twice in the opening 15 minutes to put the visitors on their way to a comfortable win in Vaduz, but the Valencia striker missed the chance for his hat-trick after blazing a late penalty against the crossbar.
Dennis Rommedahl inspired Denmark to victory in Latvia to keep Morten Olsen's men in contention in the same group. The Charlton winger opened the scoring after 15 minutes and added a second two minutes later.
Bosnia-Herzegovina moved ahead of Turkey and up to second on goal difference in Group C after a narrow win over a stubborn Malta side. A goal in the sixth minute from striker Zlatan Muslimovic put Fuad Muzurovic's men on 13 points, having played one more game than Turkey.
