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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 JUNE 2015 53 Sport FOOTBALL SPORTTODAY Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick sees Portugal edge inspired Armenia A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick en- sured Portugal recovered from con- ceding an early Armenia goal to reg- ister a win which keeps them clear at the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group I summit. Portugal were on top from the off in Yerevan, though Gevorg Ghaz- aryan was played clear for Armenia but failed to make a clean connec- tion. In the 14th minute the hosts were ahead, Marcos Pizzelli's su- perb free-kick from around 25 me- tres getting Sargis Hovsepyan's first game as coach off to a deceptively fine start. However, Ilídio Vale's visitors were level 15 minutes later. Henrikh Mkhitaryan brought down João Moutinho in the box and Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty. Just before half-time Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovski pulled off a good stop from Fábio Coentrão. Even so, Armenia were holding their own and in the 54th minute Pizzelli shot just over. There was a sting in the tail, though, as Ronaldo ran onto a Ricardo Car- valho clearance and snuck in ahead of Robert Arzumanyan to chip the ball in over Berezovski and increase his record number of UEFA Euro- pean Championship goals to 25. It did not take him long to make it 26, the Portugal captain superbly controlling Rui Patrício's clearance, turning and beating Berezovski from distance. Soon after Portugal were down to ten men, Tiago receiv- ing a second booking for a foul on Artur Sarkisov. With 18 minutes left Armenia had a lifeline, Hrayr Mkoyan pouncing after Patrício could only parry an effort from substitute Aras Özbi- liz. Portugal held out with comfort though. Poland remained clear at the top of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group D with an ultimately comfortable victory against Georgia as Robert Lewandowski scored three times in the closing stages. Adam Nawalka's Poland had won three of their first five matches but were initially frustrated in War- saw before Arkadiusz Milik broke the deadlock just past the hour. It seemed that would be enough for all three points yet Lewandowski made sure from Milik's pass in the 89th minute – and then struck again two and three minutes into added time to take his international goals tally to 26. On the front foot from the off, Poland enjoyed some early suc- cess down the flanks with Kamil Grosicki going close in the open- ing exchanges before Lewandowski passed up three presentable oppor- tunities. The FC Bayern München forward first had one effort cleared off the line before Georgia goal- keeper Giorgi Loria produced two fine saves to thwart his attempts to draw level with Zbigniew Boniek on 24 Poland goals. Poland found their range after the interval, and ended Georgia's resistance two minutes past the hour. From a corner Grosicki found Krzysztof Mączyński, who moved the ball onto Milik and his powerful drive from 25 metres was unerring. Grosicki himself might have dou- bled the advantage but his header from Jakub Błaszczykowski's centre missed the target. Enter Lewandowski. With 60 sec- onds of normal time left, Milik's pass slipped him clear and this time Loria was beaten by a thunderous finish. Better was to come as Łukasz Piszczek's long ball down the right released Błaszczykowski into the ar- ea and the substitute looped a cross over the goalkeeper, Lewandowski nodding in despite the attentions of two defenders. Still he was not finished. Once more Milik provided the telling ball, splitting a high Georgia defence and inviting Lewandowski to slide a shot past Loria and complete a quick-fire hat-trick.Scotland rescued a draw in Dublin to hold off the Republic of Ireland in Group D and keep them- selves well in contention for a UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying slot. Going into the game two points clear of the hosts, Gordon Strachan's men found themselves behind seven minutes before the interval as Jon Walters delighted the raucous home crowd by firing in from close range. The Scots were level two min- utes after the restart when Shaun Maloney's shot deflected into the corner off the body of John O'Shea, leaving Ireland fourth in the section though still well in touch. Set up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, Ire- land played in a positive manner as they knew the three points would provide a huge boost to their quali- fication prospects for next summer's finals. Even so, Scotland were first to state their intent when Steven Nai- smith drilled wide on four minutes before Steven Fletcher tested the re- flexes of goalkeeper Shay Given with a long-range drive. Ireland's first attempt flew wide on 16 minutes but at least midfielder Glenn Whelan was trying to lead by example. The same player then crossed for Daryl Murphy to cause panic with a looping header that Scotland keeper David Marshall tipped over. From the resulting cor- ner, Murphy forced Marshall into a save yet the ball fell into the path of Walters and he blasted home to give Ireland the advantage. However, Scotland were able to bounce back early in the second pe- riod as Maloney exchanged passes with substitute Ikechi Anya and curled a shot which was destined to go wide until it hit O'Shea and looped past Given into the net. It was all level and the atmosphere moved up a notch. Murphy almost wrested control back for the Republic with a low strike, Marshall pulling off an excellent stop with his feet to deny the forward. At the other end Given had to be alert to palm down a de- flected cross from Anya as Scotland went on the attack. The introduction of record goals- corer Robbie Keane added an extra dimension to Ireland's play and he registered a shot at Marshall on 75 minutes. Yet even Keane could not provide the goal that the Irish craved so much. Manager Martin O'Neill will now turn his focus towards Sep- tember when the Republic travel to Gibraltar before hosting Georgia. Hungary boosted their UEFA EU- RO 2016 qualifying hopes and vir- tually ended those of Finland with a deserved win in Helsinki earned by a late Zoltan Stieber strike. On a run of five straight defeats, including three in Group F, Finland were desperate for a result and their nerves showed as early passes went astray. Zoltán Gera, Stieber, and Balázs Dzsudzsák all had chances for the visitors but as the first half went on Finland began to settle and deny Hungary clear-cut opportuni- ties. Shortly after the interval Hungary came close to a breakthrough as substitute Krisztián Németh man- aged to get the ball past onrushing Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, but covering centre-back Markus Halsti cleared the danger. After that Finland took more control and were able to create a few half-chances themselves, particularly in the 65th minute when a Roman Eremenko shot was well saved by Hungary goalkeeper Gábor Király. However, with eight minutes to go, a half-cleared ball fell perfectly for midfielder Stieber, who returned it with interest past Hradecky from 30 metres. Finland, fourth in the sec- tion, are now seven points behind third-placed Hungary, who have kept the pressure on Romania and Northern Ireland – both of whom they face in September. Jon Walters is ecstatic at his 38th-minute breakthrough for Ireland Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates one of his goals Euro 2016 - Qualifiers Today Group C 18:00 Ukraine - Luxembourg 20:45 Belarus - Spain 20:45 Slovakia - FYR Macedonia Group E 18:00 Estonia - San Marino 18:00 Slovenia - England 20:45 Lithuania - Switzerland Group G 18:00 Liechtenstein - Moldova 18:00 Russia - Austria 20:45 Sweden - Montenegro