Ukraine made a firm step towards their first ever World Cup finals with a 2-0
home victory over
Kazakhstan, helped by a goalless draw in the clash between Turkey and Greece.
AC Milan sharpshooter Andrei Shevchenko netted Ukraine's opening goal, while Kazakhstan's full back Igor Avdeyev netted an own goal.
Ukraine now have 20 points from eight matches and are five points clear of second-placed Greece and seven ahead of Turkey with only the group winners earning an automatic qualifying berth to the 2006 finals in Germany.
The Istanbul Group 2 clash between arch rivals Turkey and Greece had been eagerly-awaited and the away side, although the reigning European champions, have still never beaten Turkey.
Ukraine looked in complete command as they began testing the visitors' defence right from the kickoff, keeping Kazakhstan's goalkeeper Yury Novikov on his toes.
Kazakhstan defended stoutly but were unable to prevent Shevchenko's opening goal after 18 minutes when Ukraine's skipper sent the ball into the net from the edge of the six-yard box.
The home side dominated play till the break and missed many chances to increase their lead.
After the restart, Ukraine were still in command but they lacked precision in the final phase of their attacks while Kazakhstan packed their defence and stifled any offensive moves on the edge of their box.
However the visitors failed to resist Ukrainian pressure and defender Avdeyev sent the ball into
his own net in an attempt to stop Ruslan Rotan's cross from the left with seven minutes remaining.
A lot was expected of the Turkey versus Greece clash. World Cup semi-finalists Turkey have never lost against Greece but this was the first match between the sides since Greece won last year's Euro 2004 tournament.
For the record, Turkey won the first match between the sides - a friendly in 1988 - 3-1 and returned from Athens six months later with a 1-0 victory.
The sides' next encounter, 15 years later and in the current qualifying campaign, ended in a goalless draw at the Karaiskaki stadium in Piraeus last September.
For Greece, they have started their World Cup qualifying campaign slowly and, though a draw in Istanbul is on paper a creditable result, failing to win has meant winning the group, and an automatic qualifying berth, looks less likely.
Turkey's Belozoglu Emre tested Antonis Nikopolidis with a superb shot in the sixth minute but the Greek keeper ably parried the ball away and the match settled into a controlling game by the Greeks, past masters as seen in their European championship winning exploits in Portugal last summer.
Stelios Giannakopoulos nearly put the Greeks ahead in the 36th minute on a counter attack but Turkey keeper Recber Rustu saved at full-stretch. Giannakopoulos also hit the crossbar eight minutes after the break.
The inclusion of Fenerbahce striker Tuncay Sanli for Turkey in the second half heralded a period of pressure from the home side and Tuncay nearly scored with a shot that skimmed the left hand post.
Although without their playmaker Emre, who left the field injured in the
79th minute, Turkey kept up the pressure and Serkan Balci had a chance in the final minutes.
Drama in the closing stages came in the shape of Turkey's Yildiray Basturk being sent off for a second yellow card in the 89th minute after contesting a decision by German referee Markus Merk.
Holland beat Romania 2-0 in Rotterdam to hold on to their lead in Group 1 but coach Marco van Basten was not entirely happy. "It wasn't a great match tonight. We didn't play as well as we could have but overall I'm satisfied. I have to take my hat off to young players such as Robben, Lucius and van Persie who did very well."
In Group 3, Portugal beat Slovakia 2-0 after a great performance from Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.
VfB Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira, set up by Paris Saint Germain's Pauleta, gave Portugal the lead on 21 minutes before Ronaldo doubled the scores four minutes before the break with a 25-metre shot.
Israel kept up the pressure in Group 4 as they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
While all the goals came in the first half - in fact there were five with Robbie Keane having one ruled out for offside - the second half was characterised by acrimony and bookings.
Italy remained top of Group 5 after a goalless draw against Norway in Oslo, Spain beat Lithuania 1-0 in Valencia to draw level on top of Group 7 with Serbia-Montenegro who drew 0-0 against Belgium, and Croatia and Sweden both had victories to stamp their authority on Group 8.