Romania keep up fine form

Romania signed off for the year with another Group G victory to leave them firmly in contention for a place in the UEFA EURO 2008™ finals.

Early advantage
Adrian Mutu and Ciprian Marica's early goals, coupled with a late strike from Dorin Goian, ensured Romania continued their strong start to the campaign. Previously they had drawn 2-2 at home against Bulgaria and won 2-0 in Albania. Mutu and Marica registered a quickfire double in the opening ten minutes but were quickly pegged back by the visitors as Sergei Kornilenko found the net. Belarus pushed to level the scores before Goian sealed the points in the second half.

Petre lively
Mutu first came close to giving the hosts the lead when he headed Florentin Petre's cross wide of the upright, before the ACF Fiorentina forward fired in his 21st international goal on seven minutes after being picked out by Petre's right-wing centre. Marica doubled the advantage three minutes later with a right-footed strike from just outside the area which flew past experienced Belarus custodian Vladimir Gaev.

Hleb assist
The visitors reduced the deficit ten minutes later as Aleksandr Hleb found Kornilenko and the attacker provided a neat finish from inside the box. Marica looked for an instant response for the home side but his close-range effort failed to trouble Gaev before Nicolae Dica drove over just after the half-hour. Kornilenko nodded above the crossbar for the visitors in the opening minutes of the second period before Maksim Romashchenko's attempt was beaten away by Romania keeper Danut Coman.

Slovenia next
Belarus continued their search for an equaliser as Coman denied Kornilenko, while at the other end, Petre fired wide and Mutu failed to convert from inside the area. Goian finally made the points safe with 15 minutes remaining when the defender headed Petre's pinpoint delivery past Gaev and into the top corner. Belarus will hope for better luck when they welcome Slovenia to Minsk on Wednesday.