Euro round-up: Chants of ‘shame shame’ as Lithuania are held by Liechtenstein

Lithuania were jeered off the pitch to chants of “shame shame” after a 0-0 home draw with Liechtenstein last night left their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 in tatters.

They have now failed to score against the tiny Alpine nation in both their Group I clashes, having suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat in Vaduz in June, and head to Hampden on Tuesday night to play Scotland with their hopes of claiming a play-off spot already all but dashed.

Lithuania dominated possession but struggled to carve out clear chances. Defender Tadas Kijanskas was denied in the 29th minute when his goal-bound header was blocked by midfielder Yves Oehri.

The hosts’ frustration was evident and they were reduced to ten men with 15 minutes to go when Edgaras Cesnauskis was sent off for a bad tackle on Marin Buchel. Tomas Danilevicius almost spared Lithuania’s blushes in stoppage time but was denied by visiting keeper Peter Jehle.

Elsewhere, Robin van Persie hit four goals to inspire Netherlands to an 11-0 annihilation of San Marino in Group E.

The Dutch, ranked No 1 in the world by Fifa, never looked back after scoring three goals in the first 17 minutes against soccer’s lowest-ranked side. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Wesley Sneijder each scored twice and John Heitinga, Dirk Kuyt and Georginio Wijnaldum completed a record win for the home side.

The Dutch are top in Group E with 21 points from seven matches, six ahead of Sweden and Hungary. A late Gergely Rudolf strike gave Hungary a 2-1 win over the Swedes to leave them both level on 15 points.

Robbie Keane passed up a glorious opportunity to snatch victory against Slovakia as the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of automatic qualification were dealt a major blow.

The Los Angeles Galaxy striker headed wide from just five yards with 16 minutes of the game remaining, and the visitors having enjoyed the better of the game until that point.

Damien Duff had earlier forced a good save from goalkeeper Jan Mucha with a 38th-minute shot that clipped defender Martin Skrtel, but Slovakia were more than value for their point with Shay Given having to make first-half saves from both Vladimir Weiss and Filip Holosko.

A horror back-pass from Rangers’ Steven Davis condemned Northern Ireland to defeat at the hands of Serbia and dealt their hopes a grave blow. With the score locked at 0-0 and Nigel Worthington’s side finally starting to get on top after their opponents had dominated the first period, the Ibrox midfielder gifted Marko Pantelic a 67th-minute goal. The goal handed Serbia three points and pole position in the battle for second place in Group C.