Switzerland 2 - Iceland 0; Albania 1 - Slovenia 0; Norway 3 - Cyprus 1

Reykjavik was the site of a crucial tuggle between group leaders Switzerland and the home side Iceland who were only a point behind in the standings.  After a baker's dozen of minutes had elapsed, Iceland had Gylfi Sigurdsson standing over a free kick.  He sent it bending over the wall, but Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio sent it bending over the top of the goal.  Switzerland threatened a go-ahead goal on the cold night, but Iceland had the best chance of the half with under five minutes left when Alfred Finnbogason sent Benaglio to his left to make a magnificent save.  The half ended scoreless.

On the hour mark, Birkir Bjarnason beat Benaglio but not the woodwork, and Iceland surely must have felt hard done by their lack of goals to that point.  Just after the midway point of the half was when the Swiss began to up their level of play.  Ricardo Rodriguez strongly avoided a tackle before laying the ball off for Tranquillo Barnetta.  Captain Barnetta curled a shot from the top of the box into the top corner for a 1-0 lead to the visitors.  Iceland almost equalized when a Finnbogason header had Benaglio on the wrong foot, but the netminder was able to leap up and tip the ball over his bar.  With a dozen minutes left on the clock, Switzerland put the match to bed.  Four Swiss players linked up after an initial headed clearance by Iceland. The final pass was provided by Stephan Lichtsteiner as Mario Gavranovic had the easiest job: tap the ball in.  Switzerland win 2-0 and are well-positioned at the top of Group E.

Cyprus were hoping a home match in Larnaca against Norway could provide a second win and chance to climb the standings.  Cyprus would have had an opener from a snap header by Giorgos Efrem but for the combination of a diving Rune Jarstein in goal for Norway and the post which made the secondary save.  Cyprus looked the danger side early on, but the tide began to turn at the half hour mark.  A looping Norwegian free kick that bounced in the box was nearly redirected by Vegard Forren, but his the ball played his head and went off frame.  Cyprus caught a break on their first goal as a mishit cross from Efstathios Aloneftis floated into the net above the outstretched hand of Jarstein for the opener with three minutes left in the period.  A turn of bad luck then struck Cyprus two minutes later as they defended a free kick, when two soft clearances allowed the ball to drop to the feet of an open Brede Hangeland, who finished to make the score 1-1 at the half.

Ruben Jenssen had a ball with which to score for Norway, but he allowed it to play his upper leg right into the body of the Cypriot goalkeeper with twenty minutes left in the match.  Four minutes later, Efrem had the goal at his mercy but saw his attempt at the far post roll just wide.  Norway were awarded a penalty when Cyprus captain Elias Charalambous arm tackled his mark's leg.  Norway converted the penalty kick for 2-1, and then made it 3-1 two minutes later.  Tarik El Younoussi lead Norway on the break and then fed Joshua King, who carried the ball upfield, cut inside his defender, and then slotted home to the near post.  Cyprus had little time left to respond and were unable to do so.  Norway win 3-1 on the road.

Tirana was a city hopeful of witnessing Albania dispatch visiting Slovenia.  The driving rain made visibility hard, but it nearly aided Albania take a lead with seventeen minutes left in the half as the ball skimmed the top of Armando Sadiku's head and went careening just wide of the far post.  Emiljan Vila sent in a cross that was met by Odise Roshi's head over two defenders to send a shot into the Slovenian goal to give Albania a 1-0 lead with nine minutes to go in the period.  Roshi celebrated by removing his shirt, thereby protesting the constraints of clothing.  1-0 was the score in favor of the hosts at the break.

Albania appeared to be much more comfortable in the rain.  Ten minutes into the half, Roshi nearly had a second as he cut across the inside of his defender and sent a shot low to the near post, but Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic slid along the ground to parry the ball.  Slovenia never seemed to muster energy in attack and they went down meekly with a scoreline flattering to their performance.  Albania win 1-0.

Switzerland 10 pts +6
Norway 7 pts +1
Albania 6 pts 0
Iceland 6 pts 0
Slovenia 3 pts -3
Cyprus 3 pts -4

Goals
Switzerland
Tranquillo Barnetta 66
Mario Gavranovic 79

Norway
Brede Hangeland 44
Tarik El Younoussi 81 PK
Joshua King 83

Cyprus
Efstathios Aloneftis 42

Albania
Odise Roshi 36

Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785773/index.html
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/live/match-report/253510/iceland-v-switzerland
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785748/index.html
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008637/postmatch/report/index.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785800/index.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlLeiicRLZw (Switzerland v. Iceland)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvzbQdGM_C0 (Norway v. Cyprus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEZFvjkTvMU (Albania v. Slovenia)