U21 joy for Spain and Denmark

Spain and Denmark both secured vital victories in Friday night's UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers.

Decisive advantage
Spain beat Group 6 rivals Greece 2-0 at home to leave the two sides level on ten points, while Denmark's 2-0 win against Norway may have given them a decisive advantage in Group 2.

Red card
Greece did themselves few favours in Spain and were down to ten men after 32 minutes when Spiridon Vallas was shown the red card. Valdo opened the scoring for Spain with Jorge Larena-Avellaneda doubling their advantage with eight minutes of the game remaining. Ukraine are three points behind both Spain and Greece after a 4-0 win at home against Armenia.

Two for Bechmann
Two goals for Tommy Bechmann gave Denmark a 2-0 win against neighbours and Group 2 rivals Norway and took the 21-year-old's tally to five goals in five U21 qualifying appearances for his country.

Bosnia win
Bechmann broke the deadlock after 57 minutes and doubled Denmark's advantage in the final minute to see his side leapfrog Norway to top the table. A 1-0 win for Bosnia-Herzegovina courtesy of a 66th-minute Albin Pelak strike, has left the former Yugoslav republic level with Norway on ten points.

Late goal
With France running away with top spot in Group 1, Cyprus pressed their claims for second place with a 1-0 win in Malta courtesy of Georgios Nikolaou's injury-time strike while Slovenia lost ground after a goalless draw in Israel.

Dutch misery
The Netherlands continue to have a miserable time in Group 3 after losing 2-1 in Belarus, who are now second in the table behind the Czech Republic. Hungary and Sweden are both three points behind leaders Poland in Group 4 following victories tonight, Hungary winning 3-1 at home against Latvia while Sweden triumphed 5-1 in San Marino.

Draw in Scotland
Scotland and Germany remain tied at the top of Group 5 after they drew 2-2. Benjamin Lauth gave Germany a tenth-minute lead only for Simon Lynch to equalise five minutes later. A Gary Caldwell strike gave Scotland the advantage on 25 minutes but Hanno Balitsch levelled for the visitors within three minutes.
 
Turkey on top
Turkey and Portugal are still calling the shots in Group 7 as both won this evening. Ibrahim Toraman's last-minute goal gave Turkey a 1-0 win in Slovakia, while Portugal fared even better on their travels, as Maku Kula, Tiago, Jorge Ribeiro and Bruno Alves all scored to give them a 4-1 win in F.Y.R. Macedonia. Turkey have 13 points from five games and Portugal 12.

Relief for Bulgaria
Bulgaria earned the first win of their qualifying campaign, 2-1 at home to group leaders Belgium. Emil Gargorov scored twice before Koen Daerden pulled a goal back for Belgium. In Group 9, Serbia and Montenegro won 2-1 in Finland to hamper the hosts' dreams of challenging Italy for top spot.

Swiss celebrations
Finally in Group 10, Switzerland are now top after a 1-0 win at home against their main challengers Russia. Marco Streller scored the only goal of the game after 22 minutes. The Republic of Ireland earned their first win, 2-1 at home against Albania.