Belgium striker Axel Witsel scored twice to help his team beat Austria 2-0 in a 2012 European Championship qualifier on Friday.
Witsel was left unmarked by Austria's defense in the sixth minute as he escaped the offside trap and headed the ball with the back of his head past goalkeeper Jurgen Macho.
Five minutes into the second half, Witsel controlled the ball on his chest from a cross by Laurent Ciman before hammering it into the net for his fourth goal in 15 international games.
Both teams created few chances and produced hardly any shots on target in a rather low-pace match full of poor passing and minor fouls.
Belgium defender Vincent Kompany received a yellow card for a late tackle and will miss the next match against Azerbaijan in Brussels on Tuesday.
Coach Georges Leekens said Belgium learned from the 4-4 draw against Austria in October, when his team gave away a 4-3 lead in injury time.
''Last time we tried to make it 5-3, this time we were clever and played for the result,'' Leekens said. ''Now we must also beat Azerbaijan, otherwise this victory is useless.''
Austria captain Marc Janko missed a chance for the equalizer in the 11th when he picked up an errant pass from defender Daniel Van Buyten but goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who played his first game for Belgium, saved the shot from close range.
Austria coach Dietmar Constantini called it ''a deserved defeat.''
''Belgium has some first-class strikers who took advantage of our mistakes,'' he said. ''We were lacking that class, Belgium was much stronger.''
It was Austria's first defeat in four matches in Group A. The second-place team will play Turkey in Istanbul in four days.
Belgium now has seven points from five matches to retain its slim chance of advancing from the group, which is led by Germany with the maximum 12 out of four.
Germany takes on Kazakhstan in Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
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Lineups:
Austria: Jurgen Macho, Ekrem Dag, Aleksandar Dragovic, Emanuel Pogatetz, Christian Fuchs, Julian Baumgartlinger, David Alaba (Yasin Pehlivan, 54), Martin Harnik, Zlatko Junuzovic (Umit Korkmaz, 68), Marko Arnautovic, Marc Janko (Stefan Maierhofer, 54).
Belgium: Simon Mignolet, Laurent Ciman, Daniel Van Buyten, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen, Timmy Simons, Nacer Chadli, Steven Defour, Marvin Ogunjimi (Kevin Mirallas, 80), Axel Witsel, Moussa Dembele.
