European football paid tribute to the victims of attacks in Euro 2016 host France during Saturday's qualifying play-offs which saw Sweden edge Denmark 2-1 and Ukraine beat Slovenia 2-0 in first leg ties. A minute's silence was observed before Saturday's games for victims of the Paris attacks Friday, one of which was outside the Stade de France where world champion Germany was playing a friendly against France. In Solna, Paris Saint-Germain star Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his ninth goal in as many qualifiers as Sweden took a slight advantage over 1992 champion Denmark. Ibrahimovic converted a second half penalty after Emil Forsberg had scored his first international goal on the stroke of half-time. But substitute Nicolai Jorgensen grabbed an away-goal lifeline for Denmark 10 minutes from time ahead of the second leg in Copenhagen Tuesday. A backheel from Jimmy Durmaz allowed Mikael Lustig to sprint away down the right flank and his pass reached Forsberg at speed and the Leipzig winger buried a first-time shot into the corner past Kasper Schmeichel. The Denmark goalkeeper rescued his team just before the half-time whistle with a diving save to deny Ibrahimovic's power-packed free-kick from just outside the box. Ibrahimovic made it 2-0 five minutes into the second period, converting a penalty after Thomas Kahlenburg had clumsily tripped Forsberg. It was the 34-year-old's first goal against the Danes in seven matches. But with 10 minutes left, substitute Jorgensen latched onto a Yussuf Poulsen flick-on from an Eriksen corner to boost Denmark's hopes of making the finals in France next summer. Earlier Ukraine took a comfortable 2-0 lead over Slovenia in Lviv as Andrei Yarmolenko and Yevhen Seleznyov scored in either half of a bad tempered clash at the packed 65,000-seat Lviv Arena. Ukraine, which has lost all five of its previous qualifying play-offs for major tournaments, dominated early but Samir Handanovic proved solid in the Slovenian goal in the opening 20 minutes. But in the 22nd minute Yarmolenko picked up a rebound after Handanovic failed to clear Yevhen Konoplyanka's cross and slotted inside the far post with a low shot. Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland will be bidding to carry on from where it left off in its 1-1 first leg draw away to Bosnia in Dublin Monday as Hungary edged closer to its first international tournament in 30 years when it defeated Norway 1-0 Friday. On the day that Hungarian international goalkeeper Marton Fulop lost his battle with cancer at the age of 32, his teammates honored his memory with a crucial victory ahead of Sunday's return in Budapest. Midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler marked his international debut with the game's only goal in the first half before Hungary, whose last major event was the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, soaked up constant pressure from the home side to preserve its advantage. Russia beats Portugal Roman Shirokov's 89th-minute goal gave Russia a 1-0 win over Portugal in a friendly Saturday, extending the winning start to new Russia coach Leonid Slutsky's reign. A tight match was headed for a draw before Fyodor Smolov and Artyom Dzyuba combined on the counterattack to set up Shirokov, who scored with a calm finish. The win is Russia's fifth in five games under Slutsky, who has overseen a dramatic improvement in the 2018 World Cup host nation's results since taking charge in August, including securing a place at next year's European Championship. — Agencies
