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 | | James McFadden, right, secured an important win for Scotland with his side's third goal |
Scotland took another big step towards qualifying for the Euro 2008 finals with a convincing 3-1 win over Ukraine at Hampden Park, keeping them ahead of France and Italy atop of Group B.
The Scots surged to a 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes with goals from Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch before Andriy Shevchenko pulled one back for the visitors in the 24th minute.
The second half was a tense affair until James McFadden cracked home Scotland's third in the 68th minute after latching on to a pass 16 metres out and whipping a low shot under keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy and into the left side of the net.
The win put Scotland on 24 points in Group B with their two remaining matches being away to Georgia on Wednesday and at home against Italy next month, while France moved into second place on 22 points after a 6-0 romp over Faroe Islands.
Italy, who are on 20 points, host Georgia later on Saturday, before they travel to Hampden Park on November 17 in what looks to be the crunch match of the group.
For Ukraine, a fourth loss in eight qualifying matches sealed their fate as they are now all but out of contention with three matches still to play. "We can still qualify and it has been a fantastic journey for these players and for me." Alex McLeish,
Scotland manager
Alex McLeish, Scotland manager, savoured the win but said it had come at a cost.
Scott Brown, Celtic midfielder, limped off with a hamstring strain while Rangers midfielder McCulloch is suspended for the Georgia clash after picking up a booking.
"We maybe have one or two walking wounded," McLeish said.
"We can still qualify and it has been a fantastic journey for these players and for me.
"To tell you that with two games to go is fantastic, especially as no one gave us a prayer when the draw was made."
England ease to win over Estonia Meanwhile, England beat Estonia 3-0 in a one-sided Group E qualifier at Wembley Stadium to take another step towards next year's finals in Austria and Switzerland.
England moved level with group leaders Croatia on 23 points after their fifth successive 3-0 victory in the group, with Balkan nation hosting Israel later on Saturday.
England dominated after going ahead in the 11th minute when Shaun Wright-Phillips fired an angled shot through goalkeeper Mart Poom's legs, before Wayne Rooney scored his first competitive goal for England since Euro 2004 when he made it 2-0 after 32 minutes.
A minute later England were 3-0 up when Taavi Rahn scored an own goal with a powerful long-range header that bounced off the foot of a post and into his own net.
"We won it in the first 20 minutes... we got the three points and now we move on to the big one. That's the most important game now," Steve McLaren, England manager, told BBC TV.
"There's a good attitude in that dressing room at the moment, good belief, good confidence."
The only concern for England was an injury to left back Ashley Cole, who was carried off on a stretcher with a heavily bandaged left leg early in the second half.
In other early matches, Serbia's qualifying hopes suffered a big setback when they were held to a 0-0 draw by lowly Armenia in Group A, while Hungary scored a 2-0 win over Malta in Budapest.
In Group G, bottom of the table Luxembourg secured their first win with a 1-0 away victory against Belarus thanks to an Alphonse Leweck goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
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