Levein in trouble as Belgium sink Scots

A question mark hung over Craig Levein’s future as Scotland manager after last night’s 2-0 defeat to Belgium all but extinguished their hopes of resurrecting their World Cup qualifying Group A campaign.

Second-half goals from Christian Benteke and Vincent Kompany just a minute apart sank the Scots.

Elsewhere in the group Wales’ hopes also took another blow after a defensive mix-up set Croatia on their way to a 2-0 victory.

Croatia led when Mario Mandzukic charged down Lewis Price’s kick, after Ashley Williams’ underhit backpass put the Wales goalkeeper under pressure. Eduardo Da Silva doubled the lead from a yard after a rebound fell kindly.

Macedonia beat Serbia 1-0 in the other game.

In Group B, Italy got the convincing win they needed to silence some of their critics despite playing virtually the entire second half with 10 men at home to Denmark.

Two goals in the space of five first-half minutes from Riccardo Montolivo and Daniele De Rossi had them 2-0 up eight minutes before the break, although Denmark got a goal back in first-half injury time through William Kvist Jorgensen.

Then, just 18 seconds into the second half, Italy’s Pablo Osvaldo was shown red for violent conduct after an incident involving Denmark’s Nicolai Stokholm. Elsewhere, Czech Republic drew 0-0 with Bulgaria.

Holland assumed control of Group D with a thumping 4-1 win of Romania in their top-of-the-table clash in Bucharest.

Romania had not conceded a goal in their opening three wins, but their perfect record was in ruins within the opening 45 minutes as Jeremain Lens, Bruno Martins Indi and Rafael van der Vaart all found the target.

Robin van Persie then completed the rout four minutes from the end with Romania’s consolation coming from a fine Ciprian Marica goal when they were 2-0 down.

Also in Group D, Hungary beat Turkey 3-1 while Estonia recorded a 1-0 win at Andorra.

In Group E, Switzerland stay top after a 2-0 away win at Iceland with Norway in second after a 3-1 win at Cyprus. The other game saw Albania surprise Slovenia 1-0 at home.

In Group G, Bosnia and Greece are joint top after they defeated Lithuania and Slovakia respectively. Latvia kept alive their hopes with a 2-0 win at home to Liechtenstein.