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Ronaldo scores hat-trick as Portugal win World Cup qualifiers Portugal beat Northern Ireland 4-2 in the World Cup qualifiers, Russia trounced Luxembourg in Group F on Friday
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick in the space of 15 minutes to boost Portugal's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup with a 4-2 win at nine-man Northern Ireland, while Russia trounced Luxembourg 4-1 in Group F on Friday. After Alexander Kokorin struck twice as Fabio Capello's Russia beat Luxembourg in Kazan to move provisionally to the top of the group. Portugal later restored its two-point lead as Ronaldo made the difference in an ill-tempered game that saw three red cards at Windsor Park. But the Russians, who recovered from their surprise 1-0 defeat in Northern Ireland last month, have one game in hand and remain in a good position to qualify automatically for the finals in Brazil. Portugal went into the match as favorites and Bruno Alves put the visitors ahead after 20 minutes. But West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley equalized with a fine header before Helder Postiga was sent off for an apparent headbutt in the 43rd minute. Portugal stumbled when Jamie Ward gave the home team a 2-1 lead in the 52nd but left-back Chris Brunt received a red card at the hour-mark. The dismissal lifted Portuguese spirits and Ronaldo leveled in the 68th, heading home a corner from Joao Moutinho. Left unmarked at the far post, Ronaldo doubled his tally with another header from close range and scored his 43rd international goal in the 83rd with a low free kick, minutes after Kyle Lafferty was sent off for a late challenge. In Kazan, a heavy downpour forced officials to delay the kickoff by an hour but the Russians did not waste time and scored inside 20 seconds when Kokorin lobbed Luxembourg goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert after collecting a pass from Alexander Kerzhakov. Kokorin doubled his team's lead in the 35th minute with a header into the bottom-left corner. Kerzhakov and Alexander Samedov scored Russia's other goals and Aurelien Joachim pulled one back for Luxembourg. Israel plays Azerbaijan on Saturday in the group's other match. Russia will next face Israel at home before finishing its qualifying campaign at Luxembourg and Azerbaijan while Portugal will host Israel and then Luxembourg in October. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/80985.aspx
