Helstad heightens Norwegian hopes

Play-off berth
Belarus, who won in Scotland on Saturday, approached the tie weakened by injury with Maksim Romaschenko, Sergei Yaskovich and Aleksandr Hleb all ruled out. Meanwhile, the Norwegians travelled to Minsk assured of second place in Group 5 following their 1-0 win against Moldova on Saturday, and Helstad's second-half strike will do their confidence no harm ahead of the two-legged play-off on 12 and 16 November.

Kovba close
The first half proved to be a disappointing affair with Belarus clearly missing influential Arsenal FC midfield player Hleb. Denis Kovba went closest to breaking the deadlock for the home team, but his shot from distance was parried by Thomas Myhre. However, the visitors were a different proposition after the interval and within minutes had forced a double save from goalkeeper Vasili Khomutovski. Jan Gunnar Solli's header was stopped by the Belarus custodian before he also turned away the rebound from Steffen Iversen.

Helstad intervention
The home defence continued to struggle under the pressure being exerted and Norway seemed to have opened the scoring on 63 minutes after Morten Gamst Pedersen steered the ball around Vasili Khomutovski and into the net, only for Austrian referee Konrad Plautz to rule out the effort for offside. Seven minutes later, the Norwegians again found the target as Helstad finished from close range after Khomutovski had punched away Solli's initial strike.

Bulgya threatens
Norway almost saw their hard work undone ten minutes from time when a slip from defender Erik Hagen let in Vitali Bulyga for a clear run on goal. The Belarus striker, however, saw his effort saved by Myhre to ensure a morale-boosting win.