Israel 2 - Northern Ireland 0; Portugal 2 - Azerbaijan 0

Portugal made the trip north from Israel to Baku to continue their tour against the far east of UEFA with a road match against Azerbaijan.  Midway through the opening period, Portugal striker Helder Postiga had a sitting duck at the doorstep of an empty net, but a brave sliding block from Rashad Sadigov prevented the opener.  Bruno Alves sent a rocket dipping over a wall with six minutes to go, but the ball hit the near post.  In stoppage time, a Raul Meireles bouncing shot was headed on target from three yards by Postiga, but he nodded straight into the legs of the goalkeeper, who had had no time to react.  Azerbaijan were thankful to go into the locker room tied at zero.

Rauf Aliyev picked up a second yellow card in minute 55, leaving the hosts down a man and provided Portugal with the opening they needed.  Not long thereafter, Joao Moutinho hit a cross that was headed into the top corner by Alves, and Portugal finally had their breakthrough.  Hugo Almeida sealed the game with ten minutes left in the match with a simple headed finish after he was left unmarked off a chipped pass from Fabio Coentrao.  Joao Pereira missed the easiest chance he'll ever see in his life in stoppage time as he dragged wide from inside the six-yard box against a goalkeeper rooted to his line.  Portugal nevertheless win 2-0 to keep the pressure on Israel for second place.
 
Belfast was not too snowy for football as it had been on Friday, so Northern Ireland were able to play a home game this month.  Israel were not as kind to the home side as the weather, however, as they were keen on keeping pace with Portugal.  In just the fourth minute, Israel were knocking on the door.  An Eden Ben Basat cross along the goal line found Itay Shechter, whose shot rattled the near post and bounced out of play.  Martin Paterson began a sequence of promising attacks for Northern Ireland when he saved a ball on the end line and passed to Steven Davis, who fired straight into goalkeeper Dudu Aoueta.  The rebound was hit back on frame but cleared off the line by Yuval Shpungin.  Israel had two more blocked shots during the sequence, provided by Tal Ben Haim and Eytan Tibi.  The teams went into recess tied at zero.

On a slowly built counterattack, Israel pounced on a bit of fortune.  Shechter stuck his foot out to corral a pass, but instead of trapping the ball, it rolled over his foot into the path of an open an onrushing Lior Refaelov, who connected cleanly for a finish to the far side netting.  Israel were not content with just the one goal.  On a ball to the right side, Shechter beat Jonny Evans up and around the sideline and goal line before laying the ball to the top of the box for a Ben Basat power shot and finish.  Israel win 2-0.

Russia 12 pts +8
Israel 11 pts +7
Portugal 11 pts +5
N. Ireland 3 pts -4
Azerbaijan 3 pts -6
Luxembourg 2 pts -10

Goals
Portugal
Bruno Alves 63
Hugo Almeida 79

Israel
Lior Refaelov 78
Eden Ben Basat 84

Match Reports:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130326/portugal-azerbaijan-world-cup-qualifiers.ap/
http://www.goal.com/en-us/match/92483/azerbaijan-vs-portugal/report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21881249
http://www.euronews.com/sport/1869666-israel-battle-to-2-0-win-in-northern-ireland/

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOyH1KWv_3Q (Portugal v. Azerbaijan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Nk1gevDQQ (Israel v. Northern Ireland)