Melbourne Victory snatch draw in Adelaide

Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory have shared the points in a thrilling, sometimes bruising 2-2 draw at Adelaide Oval.

United midfielder Vince Lia stole the show on Friday night with a classy double in between goals from Besart Berisha and Mitch Austin, who levelled with eight minutes remaining.

After only four goals in a career spanning almost 300 A-League matches, Lia bagged his first goals for the Reds in an impressive performance.

Victory started the better of the two sides as the Reds continued their trend of tame openings. Berisha broke the deadlock on 13 minutes with a powerful header after a pinpoint cross from a Leroy George free-kick.

Tensions escalated seven minutes later when Rhys Williams tangled with Ben Garuccio behind play before wrestling Reds skipper Isaias to the ground.

The stopper somehow escaped sanction from referee Shaun Evans, despite the incident attracting the attention of the video assistant referee, but the tussle sparked United into action.

Foundation Victory midfielder Lia restored parity on 23 minutes with a venomous half-volley from the edge of the area when Johan Absalonsen laid off after a cross from Michael Marrone.

After the equaliser, United gained control and carved out some half chances before George Blackwood almost put Adelaide ahead on the stroke of halftime.

Absalonsen was again involved, setting up Blackwood, but his effort from 12 metres was thwarted by some desperate Melbourne defending.

A minute later, Berisha was lucky to escape with just a yellow card after shoving Jordan Elsey to the ground and making contact with fourth official Daniel Elder.

Early in the second half, neither side was able to create any real chances until Lia doubled his tally.

The midfielder found the net with a first-time strike from 20 metres with Absalonsen again the provider.

Victory lifted after conceding and battled hard to level the scores through substitute Austin.

With his back to goal, Berisha's shot on the turn was blocked and the rebound fell nicely for the Melbourne winger. He managed to direct his shot through a number of bodies in the penalty area.

United had legitimate claims for a penalty on 90 minutes when Absalonsen's cross appeared to strike full-back Jason Geria's arm.

Champions League: Brave Tottenham Hotspur hold Real Madrid,Liverpool score seven

Tottenham proved tough to crack in their Champions League 1-1 draw at holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Manchester City showed their credentials by downing Serie A leaders Napoli 2-1 while Liverpool hammered Maribor 7-0, the biggest margin of victory for an English club away from home in the competition.

Elsewhere, there were wins for Spartak Moscow, Shakhtar Donetsk, Besiktas and RB Leipzig, while Apoel Nicosia and Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1.

Real fell behind in the table-topping Group H clash on 28 minutes when Harry Kane's mistimed flick went in off defender Raphael Varane.

But Serge Aurier needlessly brought down Toni Kroos two minutes before halftime and Ronaldo scored from the spot.

Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were denied by Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris but Keylor Navas kept out Kane and Christian Eriksen as both sides threatened to snatch the three points.

"We are happy," Kane told BT Sport.

"A point at Bernabeu, you would take that every day of the week. It shows how far we have come as a team."

The draw leaves the pair joint top of the table on seven points ahead of their return match in a fortnight.

"We'll try to win at Wembley. We don't need to change a lot," Real coach Zinedine Zidane said.

"We aren't happy as we were at home and we always want to win, but we had our chances."

Mickael Pote put Apoel ahead in 62 after keeper Roman Buerki passed straight to Lorenzo Ebecilio then spilled his shot but Sokratis Papastathopoulos headed home an equaliser for Dortmund five minutes later.

Napoli, who have a 100 per cent domestic record, fell behind in Manchester as Raheem Sterling fired home a ninth minute opener and Gabriel Jesus tapped in another in the 13th.

"They are one of the best teams I have ever faced as a professional, as a player, as a trainer," Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said.

"That is why I am so proud with what we have done."

Dries Mertens had a 38th minute spot kick saved by Edersen before Amadou Diawara converted a 73rd minute penalty, after Fernandinho fouled Faouzi Ghoulam.

"We have proved that we can play at this level but we are very angry, especially because we did not manage to play our usual game in the early stages and because we missed very good chances later on," Mertens said.

City top Group F on nine points, three clear of Shakhtar who won 2-1 at Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones's Feyenoord thanks to Bernard's double.

Steven Berghuis had given the Dutch an early lead but even Yaroslav Rakitskiy's late red card did not offer them a way back.

Napoli are third on three while Feyenoord remain pointless.

In Slovenia, goals from Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and two from Mohamed Salah capped off a brilliant first half for Liverpool.

"Our attitude was outstanding - we were spot on from the first second," Reds manager Juergen Klopp said.

Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Trent Alexander-Arnold all netted after the interval against hapless Maribor.

Liverpool top Group E on five points, ahead of Spartak Moscow on the same tally after the Russians thrashed Sevilla 5-1.

A double from Quincy Promes, Lorenzo Melgarejo, Denis Glushakov and Luiz Adriano gave the hosts victory despite Simon Kjaer's equaliser.

Sevilla are third on four and Maribor bottom on one.

In Group G, Leipzig claimed their first-ever Champions League win with a thrilling 3-2 success over Porto.

Willi Orban, Emil Forsberg and Jean-Kevin Augustin scored for the hosts while Vincent Aboubakar and Ivan Marcano replied in a dramatic first half.

Besiktas top the group on nine points, after they became the first Turkish side to open their group campaign with three successive wins.

Cenk Tosun's double gave them a 2-1 victory at Monaco, who had led through Radamel Falcao.

Leipzig have four points, Porto three and Monaco one.

Goalkeeper dies after colliding with teammate in Indonesian Super League match

A goalkeeper has died after a heavy collision with a teammate during an Indonesian Super League match on Sunday.

Choirul Huda, 38, was a legend at East Javan club Persela, making his debut in 1999 and was lauded by fans as a one-club hero.

Huda had come racing out of his area to smother a loose ball, only for teammate Ramon Rodrigues to collide with him in the process.

The painful coming together saw Rodrigues' knee hit Huda in the face before cartwheeling over the keeper at pace. Huda at first tried to get up, before clutching at his mouth and slumping back towards the ground, face first.

Paramedics rushed to his side, getting him on a stretcher and giving the stricken keeper oxygen. He had sustained severe injuries to his chest and jaw.

He was rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead shortly after arriving, doctors said.

n a statement released on the club's website, Dr Yudistiro Andri Nugroho said Huda had suffered "impacts on the chest and lower jaw", adding initial analysis suggested a "possibility of head trauma and neck trauma".

While Huda was rushed to hospital, the match continued, with Persela ultimately beating Semen Padang 2-0.

Persela manager Aji Santoso confirmed after the match that Huda had died.

"All of the players finished the game and went to the hospital, where it was announced that Choirul Huda had died," he said

"The loss of Choirul Huda has hit us all hard. We did not have time to a see a doctor, only to see his body."

Dr Nugroho said the collision meant Huda was unable to breathe, causing a cardiac arrest.

Persela said thousands of fans attended a candlelight vigil for the club legend, who made 503 appearances for the so-called Joko Tingkir Warriors.

"Thank you for the endless dedication and inspiration for Persela, Lamongan and Indonesian soccer," the club said in a post on Instagram.

Sydney FC defeats Wellington Phoenix 3-2

Wellington Phoenix twice came from behind but Sydney FC held firm to close out a 3-2 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium.

But Sunday night's win may have come at a hefty price for the A-League champions, with star Polish winger Adrian Mierzejewski in serious doubt for next weekend's Sydney derby after sustaining a second-half hamstring injury.

Phoenix rose twice, Serbian frontman Andrija Kaluderovic and Dario Vidosic each scoring to threaten a boilover.

But it was not quite enough against the Sky Blues, as left-back Michael Zullo complemented Bobo's brace with his first goal in nearly a decade, a contentious late decision the only barrier to the table's top spot.

That said, all threatened to unravel in the first minute when Andrew Redmayne fumbled a Kaluderovic header off a free-kick and pounced on his spill in the nick of time as Andrew Durante rounded.

A nondescript opening half hour bore negligible chances as Kaluderovic skied a menacing through ball and Alex Brosque fired a sitter wide of Keegan Smith's right upright.

Smith, Wellington's 18-year-old goalkeeper, was less fortunate in the following sequence of play.

Just like the previous scuppered move, Milos Ninkovic was the orchestrator and laid off to Brosque, the skipper feeding a cutting pass for Bobo to ram home.

Six minutes later and Sydney had another, as Mierzejewski chased the ball to the byline down and crossed for Zullo to cannon into the corner - his first A-League goal since 2008 when he was in Roar colours.

Daniel Mullen, off whom both goals had deflected, was at risk of an unfortunate of hat-trick until Kaluderovic stole the attention with a neat half-time finish.

After the break, Bobo cushioned Luke Wilkshire's inch-perfect cross to head home Sydney's third but coach Graham Arnold's cheer was soon replaced with concern as Mierzejewski pulled up and clutched at his hamstring.

The stress was compounded when, no sooner had former Sky Blues fan favourite Ali Abbas' introduction evoked resounding applause from the crowd of 11,284, the Iraqi's new teammates mounted another comeback via Vidosic.

Late goal saves A-League point for Glory

Former Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart added to his collection of happy memories of his old home ground after his late header earned Perth Glory an away point in a 2-2 A-League thriller on Sunday.

The Jets looked set to start their season with successive wins until Taggart's well-placed header in the second half of stoppage time at McDonald Jones Stadium

Taggart's second goal secured Perth's first point of the season.

"To equalise in the last minute gives us a lot of confidence and hopefully momentum going into the next few games," Taggart said.

Taggart opened the scoring in the eighth minute when he neatly flicked home a fine right-wing cross from Diego Castro.

The brace maintained his good scoring record at the ground where he was the hero of Jets fans from 2012-14, winning the Golden Boot in 2014.

"It's still a special stadium for me, it's really nice to pay here and there's so many good memories coming back here," he said.

Newcastle coach Ernie Merrick lamented several missed opportunities after they came from behind the second-straight week.

Irishman Roy O'Donovan followed up his hat-trick in the Jets' 5-1 opening round away win over Central Coast, with an equaliser in front of 14,833 fans.

Ben Kantarovski put them ahead with a close-range shot on the hour, after a Nikolai Topor-Stanley header from a Dimi Petratos corner hit a post.

They had more chances to extend their lead, but Petratos and Ronald Vargas had attempts saved by Glory goalkeeper Liam Reddy..

"We had more than enough chances to win that game," Merrick said.

"Again we conceded a goal early and we showed the resilience to come back to score two goals.

"We played some good football and we've come away with the feeling that we've thrown away a couple of points.

"We had several chances to go further ahead and we didn't take them.

Perth persisted and Taggart was denied once by a good save from Jack Duncan before finding the net for a second time.

Glory coach Kenny Lowe praised his side's fitness after they finished on top for a second straight week.

"We could have pinched something last week at Western Sydney but it wasn't to be, but we definitely deserved something today I think," Lowe said

"We're a little a bit of a slow burn I think. We've got six of our first nine away , so we've got a fair old schedule in the early part of the season."

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Melbourn city heated Melbourne derby

For the second time in as many rounds, Bruce Kamau has come up trumps for Melbourne City, scoring the winner in his side's 2-1 derby win over cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory.

Kamau settled a tense and tight A-League match by running the length of the field from a Victory corner to score in the 64th minute.

Marcin Budzinski and Leroy George earlier scored their first goals in Australia before Kamau's speed broke open the contest.

On the back of his round one double, Kamau is now on top of the A-League scorer's charts - just as his side looks down on the league after two games.

In contrast, Victory find themselves on the bottom of the competition after two first-up losses.

A fired-up Victory side were aggressive in the tackle, and had three first-half bookings to show for it.

Carl Valeri and Leigh Broxham were carded for reckless tackles in the opening 10 minutes, before Rhys Williams also saw yellow for a brutal late challenge from behind on Osama Malik.

Budzinski needed just five minutes to leave his mark.

The Polish marquee ran onto Nick Fitzgerald's delicate through ball and powered past Lawrence Thomas at the near post in the final act of the first half.

After the break, Victory responded through George.

Barbarouses' bending cross found the 30-year-old at the back post, who steadied and struck home through Eugene Galekovic's legs.

Victory were on top and looked likely to add to their tally before falling to a sucker punch.

Kamau charged out of his own half with the ball and into the Victory box.

As he struck the ball the 22-year-old was almost stymied by Valeri but the Victory skipper's outstretched shin only looped the ball over Thomas into the goal.

City coach Warren Joyce said he wouldn't be getting carried away with the win.

"It's early season yet. It's a good performance tonight ... three points tonight but nothing more than three points," he said.

Victory, which fielded returning internationals Mark Milligan, James Troisi and Barbarouses in the starting side, must now regroup before a trip to unbeaten Adelaide United.

Kevin Muscat said he saw a similar game against City to their opening round loss to Sydney FC.

"We should've got something tonight. And we should have gt something last week," he said.

"We're capable of so much more

Western Sydney Wanderers fight back to earn A-League draw

Central Coast Mariners coach Paul Okon was left ruing refereeing decisions after the Mariners twice gave up the lead in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium.

Both Okon and Wanderers caretaker coach Hayden Foxe came off the weekly A-League rollercoaster, feeling a mixture of pride and disappointment.

The Wanderers have four points, their best tally after two rounds.

While Foxe was pleased by his side's resilience, he was disappointed with their lack of fluency.

Okon was delighted with the way his side rebounded from last week's 5-1 home loss to Newcastle, but felt they should have won.

He pointed out they had climbed off the bottom, but was clearly frustrated by some of the officiating.

They conceded a second contentious penalty in as many rounds, with Dutchman Wout Brama deemed by referee Chris Beath to have pushed Roly Bonevacia in the back just before halftime.

Oreil Riera converted the spot-kick, cancelling out a score from Spanish compatriot Asdrubal, with each of the new import strikers notching a second goal in as many rounds.

Asked if he had any issue with the penalty, Okon said: "It doesn't really matter what I think. It's two (penalties) in two weeks - let's hope it's not three in three weeks.

"If you really want to know, a horrible decision."

Okon was also left unhappy by the 85th-minute dismissal of recruit Andrew Hoole after a second yellow card.

"I disagree, but I'm not going to whinge about it. It's done and the important thing for us is to focus on our response after last week.

"Really proud of the players and their response. The work they put in during the week was tremendous."

"I thought we were excellent. We played some great football."

Daniel De Silva gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the 63rd minute when he latched onto a Hoole through ball.

Bonevacia equalised six minutes later, after Mariners goalkeeper Thomas Glover pushed a Josh Risdon cross into his path.

"We didn't play nowhere near as fluent as we normally do, so that was a disappointing part of it," Foxe said.

"I thought they started quite brightly and I thought that we gave them too much room to play.

"We can improve a lot from that performance, but the the real positive thing is we didn't get beat - we came back twice."

Manchester City in seventh heaven as rivals flounder

Manchester City have opened up a two-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the Premier League with another display of scintillating brilliance in a 7-2 thrashing of Stoke City at the Etihad Stadium.

After the high-noon showdown between Liverpool and a United side lacking in any great ambition ended in goalless stalemate at Anfield, City cashed in with a third straight league match at the Etihad in which they have struck at least five goals.

Pep Guardiola's men became the first team to net 29 goals in their first eight league games of a top-flight campaign in England since Everton in 1894 as some of their main title challengers faltered.

Their sixth consecutive league win moved them to 22 points with United on 20 and Tottenham staying third on 17 after finally earning their first home win at Wembley, 1-0 over Bournemouth with a Christian Eriksen goal.

Sensation of the day came at Selhurst Park where Crystal Palace, hitherto without a goal or point to their name, downed champions Chelsea 2-1 with Wilfried Zaha, returning from injury, scoring a fine winner just before the break.

Arsenal were surprisingly toppled too as Watford came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win with a 71st-minute penalty from Troy Deeney and a stoppage-time strike from Tom Cleverley, which lifted the Hornets to the giddy heights of fourth on 15 points.

The shock defeats left fifth-placed Chelsea and Arsenal both nine points behind leaders City, whose current brand of kaleidoscopic football makes them favourites to regain the title they last won in 2014.

Gabriel Jesus, with a brace, Raheem Sterling, David Silva, Fernandinho, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva all found the target in the demolition of Stoke with the side now looking like a proper Guardiola creation.

"We didn't lose easy balls, we play fast and simple. That's why I am very pleased. It is the best performance since I am here," Guardiola told the BBC.

City's dazzle was in stark contrast to their neighbours' safety-first approach in the underwhelming Anfield game during which the only Manchester United highlight was David de Gea's great save to deny Joel Matip.

Liverpool, despite being much the better side, were blunt in attack, failing to convert any of their 19 attempts on goal.

"Manchester United came here for a point and got it," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with a sigh.

Not that United's manager Jose Mourinho would entertain the idea of it having been a bit of an anti-climactic affair.

"It depends on what is an entertaining game," he said. "One thing is an entertaining game for fans, another thing is an entertaining game for people who read football in a different way.

"For me, the second half was a bit of chess but my opponent didn't open the door for me to win the game."

West Ham and Burnley drew 1-1 while Swansea City forged clear of the relegation zone with only their second league win of the season, a 2-0 victory over Socceroo Aaron Mooy's Huddersfield Town.

La Liga: Suarez saves Barcelona with equaliser, Ronaldo rescues Real Madrid with winner

LUIS Suarez saved Barcelona’s unbeaten La Liga record this season by salvaging a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on Saturday in a match laced with political tension amid Catalonia’s drive for independence.

Saul Niguez’s spectacular strike had given Atletico an early advantage. However, Barca’s dominance for large spells paid off when Suarez finally got the better of the outstanding Jan Oblak to level nine minutes from time.

Suarez should have won the game two minutes from time when he failed to connect with Andre Gomes’s teasing cross.

“Everyone knows Atletico defend very well and have a great goalkeeper, but we did enough to believe we deserved more in the second half,” said Suarez.

A share of the points allows Real Madrid to move up to second, five points behind Barca, as Cristiano Ronaldo struck an 85th-minute winner -- his first league goal of the season -- to grind out a hard-fought 2-1 win for the European champions at Getafe.

Atletico move up to third but remain six points behind the leaders. “It was a great game between two teams with very different characteristics,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

A backdrop of Spanish flags and chants of “Viva Espana” (long live Spain) met Barca on their first visit to the Spanish capital since a Catalan independence referendum marred by violence and deemed illegal by the Spanish government on October 1.

However, both managers lauded the atmosphere.

“The stadium was marvellous,” added Simeone.

“I loved the stadium, the fans, (jeers for the opposition) are normal, but it was a great night of football for everyone,” said Barca boss Ernesto Valverde.

The 68,000 crowd at Atletico’s new Wanda Metropolitano were nearly silenced inside 30 seconds by Lionel Messi.

The five-time world player of the year rescued Argentina’s floundering World Cup qualifying campaign with a stunning hat-trick in the altitude of Quito, Ecuador on Tuesday to ensure his presence at next year’s showpiece in Russia.

And Messi nearly had another brilliant solo effort to add to his 17 goals for club and country this season as he weaved past a series of Atletico challenges before firing into the side-netting.

“Messi was extraordinary. Every time the ball went through him there was danger,” added Simeone.

Barca defender Gerard Pique, an outspoken supporter of Catalonia’s right to self-determination, was loudly jeered every time he touched the ball.

However, Antoine Griezmann was also driving Pique to distraction as he nutmegged the Spanish international to bear down on goal only to be denied by a stunning stop from Ter Stegen.

The German stopper was helpless on 21 minutes when Saul cut inside onto his supposedly weaker right foot before unleashing a drive into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Barca went onto dominate possession, but had to wait until 10 minutes into the second half to force Oblak into a save when Suarez stung the Slovenian’s palms from outside the box.

Seconds later Messi sent a curling free-kick off the outside of the post and then fired his best chance of the match wastefully wide 19 minutes from time.

However, after another outstanding Oblak save to deny Suarez, Barca’s pressure was rewarded when Sergi Roberto picked out an unmarked Suarez at the back post and his downward header had too much power for Oblak.

Earlier, Ronaldo rode to Real’s rescue and made amends for his earlier profligacy with a late winner.

“The game is 90 minutes long and we know that we can score at any moment,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

However, after another outstanding Oblak save to deny Suarez, Barca’s pressure was rewarded when Sergi Roberto picked out an unmarked Suarez at the back post and his downward header had too much power for Oblak.

Earlier, Ronaldo rode to Real’s rescue and made amends for his earlier profligacy with a late winner.

“The game is 90 minutes long and we know that we can score at any moment,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

Adelaide United stun Brisbane Roar with A-League comeback

Adelaide United has stunned Brisbane Roar with two goals at the death to seal a 2-1 come-from-behind A-League victory on Friday night.

The Brisbane Roar looked destined to win after Massimo Maccarone opened his account just eight minutes into his home debut, before John Aloisi's side seemingly weathered the worst of a second-half storm from the visitors.

But the Reds kept on coming and eventually broke through, with substitute Ryan Kitto equalising in the 88th minute, then Johan Absalonsen scoring the winner in extra time.

Usually it's Brisbane producing the late heroics at Suncorp Stadium but instead the tables were turned and they have now opened the new season with two consecutive wins.

It was a deserved result after Adelaide wrestled back control of a match that ebbed and flowed with both teams enjoying periods of dominance.

Italian veteran Maccarone got the ball rolling, smashing in his first A-League goal at the back post after he was set up by a Corey Brown cross, much to the delight of the 11,178-strong crowd.

The Roar had an array of chances to make it 2-0 but goalkeeper Paul Izzo made six important saves - snuffing out a dangerous Peter Skapetis break, another Maccarone effort and a rasping shot from substitute Brett Holman.

The 22-year-old made a huge blooper in the 48th minute when he coughed up possession near the six-yard box and was cornered by Maccarone and Nick D'Agostino, but made up for it by blocking back-to-back efforts from the latter to keep Adelaide in the game.

United nearly equalised four minutes later after George Blackwood beat his marker Avram Papadopoulos and cut into the box, only for his shot to cannon off the post, into goalkeeper Michael Theo's back and then go out for a corner.

They continued to rally and were richly rewarded for their persistence, with Kitto making it 1-1 just minutes coming onto the field.

Danish winger Absalonsen completed the comeback in terrific style, scoring his second goal in as many games.

Paraguayan prostitutes ‘tried to seduce Venezuelan players before their World Cup qualifiers to distract them’

VENEZUELA might have been the bottom team in the South American World Cup qualifying group, but they cannot be accused of being unprofessional.

Rafael Dudamel's side faced Paraguay with no chance of qualifying for Russia next summer in their final game.

And according to the manager, there were various ladies of the night spending time in the hotel lobby of the Venezuelan team.

Dudamel, 44, seemed to suggest they'd been planted there.

He said: "There were several female visits last night at the hotel.

"But soccer players have evolved. We are not surprised with these female visits and do not know who sent them. These are old tactics."

Venezuela's win over Paraguay was one of the shock results of the final round of games in South American qualifying.

The home side still had a chance of making it through to the World Cup finals going into the game at Estadio Defensores de Chaco in Asuncion.

And despite Paraguay creating more of the chances, the visitors took theirs through Yangel Herrera's late goal.

The New York City FC midfielder - on loan from Manchester City - surged in with a late run into the box after a magnificent 50-yard dribble on the right flank from Romulo Otero.

Venezuela finished rock bottom of the group on just 12 points from 18 games, but they will hope to do better in the next World Cup qualifiers, with a young side and many players in their early 20s.

Coleman to consider options after Wales heartbreak, joy for Iceland and Serbia: 2018 World Cup qualifying round-up

  

Wales manager Chris Coleman said he would "let the dust settle" before deciding whether to continue after his side's 2018 World Cup qualification hopes ended in a 1-0 defeat by Ireland on Monday.

Coleman led Wales to the semi-finals of the 2016 European Championships but his dream of taking the nation to their first World Cup finals since 1958 was crushed in the Cardiff City Stadium.

James McClean's second-half goal meant Ireland claimed a play-off spot after they leapfrogged Wales into second place in Group D behind Serbia.

It was Wales' first defeat in a World Cup qualifier for 12 games and their first home defeat in a competitve fixture for four years -- a record Coleman said he was proud of.

"All I can think about right now is the faces of the players in the dressing room and their disappointment," said Coleman, who took over in 2012. "They are inconsolable but they should be very proud.

"I will take some time to let the dust settle, we will sit down and have a chat and take it from there.

"This was our first defeat at home for four years. Four years ago we were playing against Macedonia in front of 8,000. It is different now."

Ireland will probably face one of the seeded nations in the playoffs, possibly Portugal or Italy, but showed in Cardiff that they will be no pushovers, whoever they draw next Tuesday.

"We are in the playoffs. Whenever the draw is made we will take our chance," Ireland manager Martin O'Neill said.

"The impression of our campaign? Absolutely delighted. When the draw was made I thought we had a very difficult group. We have come through, fantastic."

  Struggling Italy head for playoffs

Italy battled to a 1-0 win over Albania with a late Antonio Candreva goal as the struggling Group G runners-up head for the playoffs in a bid to reach next year's World Cup.

The four-time World Cup winners had already clinched a play-off spot by finishing second behind group winners Spain, but, after a humiliating 1-1 draw at home to Macedonia on Friday, they were under pressure to perform in Albania.

Italy squandered several good chances until Candreva, unmarked to the left side of goalkeeper Etrit Berisha, was found with a ball across the area from Leonardo Spinazzola and fired home a powerful shot to give Italy the victory.

“We played a great game, were united in our play and we brought the victory home," said midfielder Lorenzo Insigne. "Today we sought the victory at all costs and we managed to win. We gave everything and showed that Italy never gives up.”

Iceland reach first World Cup

Less than 18 months after sensationally knocking England out of Euro 2016, Iceland qualified for the World Cup for the first time following a 2-0 win over Kosovo.

Needing victory to guarantee top spot in Group I, goals from Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Gudmundsson ensured Iceland would be on the plane to Russia 2018.

"I thought after Euro 2016 that the hardest thing would be to motivate ourselves again," said Iceland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson.

"The hardest thing was to get going again after our massive party in France. And what's more in a group contested between Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine and Finland, who are much better than their position in the group would have you believe.

"The success is not an end in itself but a long journey towards a final destination."

Serbia through after Georgia win

Belgrade was gripped by anxiety before an overwhelming sense of joy and relief greeted Serbia reaching the World Cup with a nerve-jangling 1-0 home win over Georgia, thanks to substitute Aleksandar Prijovic's 74th-minute goal.

The result, celebrated ecstatically in the cauldron of Red Star's Rajko Mitic stadium, left the Balkan nation top of Group D with 21 points from 10 games, two more than second-placed Ireland.

"I expected a tough game against Georgia and suspected that the final step would be the most difficult," Serbia manager Slavoljub Muslin told a news conference after the organisers set off spectacular fireworks which rocketed into the night sky over the Serbian capital.

"Georgia were the better side in the first half and I told the players to move up a gear after the break, though we had to keep it tight at the back too."

RESULTS: 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING - EUROPE

Albania 0 Italy 1
Finland 2 Turkey 2
FYROM 4 Liechtenstein 0
Iceland 2 Kosovo 0
Israel 0 Spain 1
Moldova 0 Austria 1
Serbia 1 Georgia 0
Ukraine 0 Croatia 2
Wales 0 Ireland 1