Koutsianikoulis keeps Greece rising

A diving header from Vassilis Koutsianikoulis proved enough for Greece to defeat Lithuania in Tripoli Arkadia and extend their advantage at the top of Group 9.

Dipping volley
Although Nikolaos Nioplias's side dominated possession in the first half they created no scoring opportunities of note as Lithuania kept plenty of bodies behind the ball. Koutsianikoulis was Greece's liveliest player throughout, and gave a warning of what was to come with a dipping volley which just missed the target on 74 minutes.

Fine header
Six minutes later the PAOK FC winger made no mistake, beating Vytautas Černiauskas with a fine header from a Giannis Papadopoulos cross for the only goal. Lithuania rallied after falling behind and went close to equalising in the 88th minute as a powerful Arvydas Novikovas shot from range bounced to safety off the crossbar.

England challenge
Greece have 13 points from five unbeaten outings in the section, leaving them six points clear of an England side who could draw level by winning their two games in hand. Both of the pacesetters meet Portugal in their next fixtures – England at Wembley on 14 November, Greece in Olhao three days later. Lithuania are at the foot of the table with one point from four matches.