Salihi fires Albania past Luxembourg

Hamdi Salihi scored the only goal against ten-man Luxembourg as Albania continued their positive start to UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group D with victory in Tirana.

Salihi turned in Armend Dallku's cross on the volley in the 37th minute as Josip Kuže's side followed up their draw against Romania with victory, and handed Luxembourg their second successive defeat in the section. The visiting side, who lost 3-0 to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their opening game, finished the match with ten men following Mario Mutsch's 58th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card.

Albania, joint top on four points with Belarus, are now undefeated in their past seven matches with Salihi scoring four of their six goals in a sequence that has yielded five wins and a draw. They next host Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8 October when Luxembourg are at home to Belarus.