The Netherlands and Spain brought a hint of drama to Euro 2012 qualifying on Tuesday, surviving fightbacks by Hungary and Lithuania to maintain their 100 percent records in the competition. Dirk Kuyt scored two goals in three minutes late in the game as the Dutch, pegged back to 3-3 in the 75th minute by Zoltan Gera's second goal, snatched a 5-3 win in Amsterdam.
Two goals in the last 20 minutes, one an own goal from Tadas Kijanskas and one from Juan Mata, gave Spain a 3-1 win on a muddy pitch in Lithuania after the world champions had had Xavi's first-half goal wiped out by Marius Stankevicius.
It was a rare case of big guns having to work hard for the points in a tournament which has so far featured a dull procession of effortless wins by the top sides. The Dutch have six wins from six games in Group E while Spain have won all five in Group I and both are almost certain to top their groups.
The nine group winners will go straight to Poland and Ukraine in 2012 along with the best runners-up. The other eight second-placed teams play off for four more places. "Matches like this you won't see often," said Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk after his team's 14th successive win in a qualifying match.
The World Cup finalists, 4-0 winners in Hungary on Friday, looked set for another easy victory when Robin van Persie, who later went off injured, gave them a 13th-minute lead. Czech Republic stayed six points behind Spain in second spot after Milan Baros and Michal Kadlec gave them a predictable 2-0 win over Liechtenstein.
Turkey revived their hopes of finishing second behind unstoppable Germany in Group A with a 2-0 win over fading Austria. Belgium, 4-1 winners over Azerbaijan, are second with 10 points while Turkey are third with nine, the Germans leading with a perfect record.
Luxembourg briefly looked as if they could cause a major upset when Lars Gerson gave them the lead against Romania but two goals from Adrian Mutu helped the East Europeans recover for a 3-1 win in Group D. Serbia and Slovenia missed a chance to dent Italy's Group C lead when they drew away, keeping both five points adrift.
Serbia drew 1-1 in Estonia after a blunder by goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic allowed Konstantin Vassiljev to equalise for the hosts in the 84th minute in snowy Tallinn, wiping out Marko Pantelic's opportunist first-half effort. Slovenia drew 0-0 in Northern Ireland.