Yet another
Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick propelled Portugal to a crucial 3-2 win in Armenia
in Euro 2016 qualifying on Saturday while Poland's Robert Lewandowski hit one
of the quickest triples in the competition's history.
Andre
Schuerrle also bagged a hat-trick in Germany's 7-0 thrashing of Gibraltar but
former European champions Greece's embarrassing campaign continued as they were
beaten 2-1 in the Faroe Islands.
Real Madrid
superstar Ronaldo scored his third hat-trick in his last three games for club
and country as Portugal held on with 10 men for the final half-hour in Yerevan
to claim a crucial win in Group I.
Brazilian-born
Marcos Pizzelli gave Armenia the lead but Ronaldo equalised from the penalty
spot before adding two more in the space of four second-half minutes.
Fernando
Santos' side then had Tiago Mendes, the Atletico Madrid midfielder, sent off
and were left to hang on after Hrayr Mkoyan pulled a goal back for the hosts.
Portugal
have now won four games in a row since starting their campaign with a 1-0 home
defeat to Albania and they top Group I by two points from Denmark, who beat
Serbia 2-0 in Copenhagen thanks to a goal in each half from Yussuf Poulsen and
Jakob Poulsen.
Poland
remain top of Group D ahead of World Cup holders Germany after Lewandowski's
late hat-trick sealed a 4-0 win against Georgia in Warsaw.
Arkadiusz Milik
put the Poles in front before captain Lewandowski doubled their lead in the
89th minute.
The Bayern
Munich striker added another in the 92nd minute and completed a remarkable
treble in the third minute of stoppage time to secure a handsome win.
It is the
second-fastest hat-trick in the history of European Championship qualifying,
bettered only by Arif Erdem, who scored three in three minutes for Turkey
against Northern Ireland in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2000.
Poland are a
point clear of Germany, who won 7-0 against minnows Gibraltar in Faro, southern
Portugal, despite Bastian Schweinsteiger having an early penalty saved.
Schuerrle
set them on their way and six more goals followed in the second half, including
two more from the Wolfsburg forward.
Scotland
remain third, two points better off than the Republic of Ireland, after coming
from behind to draw 1-1 in Dublin, Shaun Maloney's shot deflecting in off home
skipper John O'Shea to cancel out Jon Walters' opener for Ireland.
The prospect
of seeing all four British sides qualify together for a major tournament for
the first time since the 1958 World Cup remains a very real one, with Northern
Ireland still second in Group F after a 0-0 draw at home to leaders Romania at
Windsor Park.
However,
Greece's disastrous campaign continued as they were beaten 2-1 by traditional
minnows the Faroe Islands in Torshavn.
A goal in
each half from Hallur Hansson and Brandur Olsen secured a famous win for the
hosts, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Borussia Dortmund getting one back in
vain for Greece.
It is the
second time the Euro 2004 winners have lost to the Faroes in this campaign -
coach Claudio Ranieri was sacked after a 1-0 loss at home in November.
Greece are
rock bottom of the group with just two points from six games.
Group A
Pos Team P Pts
1 Iceland 6 15
2 Czech Rep 6 13
3 Netherlands 6 10
4 Turkey 6 8
5 Latvia 6 3
6 Kazakhstan 6 1
Group B
Pos Team P Pts
1 Wales 6 14
2 Belgium 6 11
3 Israel 6 9
4 Cyprus 6 9
5 Bosnia 6 8
6 Andorra 6 0
Group C
Pos Team P Pts
1 Slovakia 5 15
2 Spain 5 12
3 Ukraine 5 9
4 Belarus 5 4
5 Macedonia 5 3
6 Luxembourg 5 1
Group D
Pos Team P Pts
1 Poland 6 14
2 Germany 6 13
3 Scotland 6 11
4 Ireland 6 9
5 Georgia 6 3
6 Gibraltar 6 0
Group E
Pos Team P Pts
1 England 5 15
2 Slovenia 5 9
3 Switzerland 5 9
4 Lithuania 5 6
5 Estonia 5 4
6 San Marino 5 1
Group F
Pos Team P Pts
1 Romania 6 14
2 N Ireland 6 13
3 Hungary 6 11
4 Faroes 6 6
5 Finland 6 4
6 Greece 6 2
Group G
Pos Team P Pts
1 Austria 5 13
2 Sweden 5 9
3 Russia 5 8
4 Montenegro 5 5
5 Liechtenstein 5 4
6 Moldova 5 1
Group H
Pos Team P Pts
1 Croatia 6 14
2 Italy 6 12
3 Norway 6 10
4 Bulgaria 6 8
5 Azerbaijan 6 4
6 Malta 6 1
Group I
Pos Team P Pts
1 Portugal 5 12
2 Denmark 5 10
3 Albania 4 7
4 Serbia 5 1
5 Armenia 5 1
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