It proved to be a game of two halves with Simen Brenne and Martin Andresen giving Norway a first-half lead before a brace from Hamit Altintop sneaked a draw for the Turks to keep them a point clear of Greece.

The match was played behind closed doors at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt as the Turks served out the last of their three-match stadium ban following the brawl which marred their World Cup play-off against Switzerland in November 2005.

And it was the Norwegians who settled first with Brenne firing narrowly wide in the opening stages.

The Scandinavians then gradually took a hold on the first half and Thorstein Helstad almost opened the scoring with a six-yard header which went over the bar.

Turkey were beginning to feel the pressure, so it was no surprise when Brenne opened the scoring for the visitors after 31 minutes.

Fredrik Stromstad played the ball over the Turkish back-line, and striker Brenne rounded goalkeeper Volkan Demirel before slotting home into the bottom right corner.

There was little the Turks could do to prevent the second goal either five minutes before the interval.

Helstad launched a counter-attack before laying the ball off to John Carew, who in turn played the ball into Andresen with the captain drilling a shot into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

A half-time grilling from coach Fatih Terim had the desired effect on Turkey, who almost reduced the deficit three minutes after the restart with Gokdeniz Karadeniz smashing a shot into the post.

Thomas Myhre then denied Altintop from 20 yards with a smart stop, but the Norway custodian was at fault when the Turks pulled a goal back after 72 minutes.

A free-kick from Altintop was heading goalwards, and Myhre failed to get a grasp of the shot allowing it to slip into the net.

Myhre then made some amends with a good save Emre Belozoglu, but the pressure told once more on the Norwegian keeper in the dying seconds when he allowed another Altintop free-kick to squirm between his hands and legs.