A late goal by Zvezdan Misimovic gave Bosnia-Herzegovina a 1-0 win over nine-man Belarus in their Euro 2012 qualifying match in Group D on Tuesday.
Striker Edin Dzeko passed the ball to Misimovic, who shot left-footed into the corner in the 87th minute.
Belarus went down to 10 men before halftime when midfielder Timofei Kalachev received a second yellow card in the 34th for simulation. His first booking came seven minutes earlier for a fierce challenge on Bosnia's Senad Lulic.
Belarus defender Martinovic was also sent off in the 85th following two bookings for fouls on Manchester City striker Dzeko.
Dzeko missed a chance in the first half to put the home team ahead with a header from close range in the 43rd minute which Vitali Trubilo was able to clear.
Belarus played aggressively but failed to create clearcut scoring chances. Yellow cards rained down throughout the match with nine being shown to Belarus players and three to the home side.
The Bosnians picked up their game in the second half, though, with Dzeko providing the major threat.
He had a strike disallowed in the 55th minute and set up two easy chances for Misimovic, who missed both, before the two players combined to produce the winner in the closing minutes.
''We played with patience,'' Misimovic said.
Bosnia-Herzegovina coach Safet Susic said the match was difficult but ''we just had to win and we did.''
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Lineups:
Bosnia: Asmir Begovic, Boris Pandza (Zvezdan Misimovic, 45), Sasa Papac, Elvir Rahimic, Edin Dzeko, Mensur Mujdza, Adnan Zahirovic, Sejad Salihovic (Semir Stilic, 19) Senad Lulic, Senijad Ibricic (Ermin Zec, 64), Haris Medunjanin.
Belarus: Yuri Zhevnov, Aleksandr Kulchiy, Aleksandr Martynovich, Timofei Kalachev, Vitali Trubilo, Sergei Kornilenko (Stanislav Dragun, 72), Anton Putilo, Sergei Kislyak, Pavel Sitko (Andrei Voronkov, 77), Dmitri Verkhovtsov, Igor Shitov.
