Turkey snatch play-off place

Turkey snatched second place and a place in the Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs with a narrow 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan. With Belgium losing 3-1 to Group A winners Germany, Turkey did enough - just - in Istanbul. But while they were rarely troubled by Azerbaijan, their profligacy in front of goal made for a nervous night as they needed almost an hour to break the deadlock. Burak Yilmaz struck for the decisive goal after 59 minutes, firing home from Selcuk Inan's pass. Turkey began brightly with Colin Kazim-Richards firing goalwards after 90 seconds, but his shot was blocked. However, it was hardly a sign of things to come, as Turkey were guilty of missing the target or settling for long-range efforts in a frustrating first half. Kazim-Richards sent a header wide, before Kamran Agayev comfortably held ambitious shots from Hamit Altintop and Mehmet Topal. Altintop then shot over the crossbar three times before the half was over. The second half started in similar fashion, although Yilmaz's shot in the 53rd minute brought the first save of note from Agayev as he parried the ball to safety. Emre had a shot charged down as Turkey stepped up the pressure with Arda Turan and Selcuk Inan threatening before Yilmaz made the breakthrough. Turkey sought in vain for a second, with Turan seeing his attempted lob tipped over and Agayev parrying another dangerous shot from Yilmaz. However, with Belgium suffering defeat, Turkey had the points they needed to climb up into a play-off place.