First-half goals from John Arne Riise and John Carew gave Norway a 2-1 away win over Cyprus in a 2012 European Championship qualifier Friday and its third straight victory in Group H.
A speedy counter attack in the second minute saw Erik Huseklepp feed a pass to Riise, who blasted a left-foot shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
Norway's second came in the 42nd when Carew evaded defender Elias Charalambous inside the box and slid the ball under the diving Cypriot goalkeeper Antonis Georgallides.
The home side pulled a goal back in the 58th when captain Ioannis Okkas was left unmarked inside the box and shot past Norwegian goalkeeper Jon Knudsen. It was Okkas' 26th goal for the national side and came during his 100th cap.
Norway missed a chance to double its lead in the 15th when back-to-back shots by Erik Huseklepp and Brede Hangeland were cleared off the line by Savvas Poursaitides and Michael Constantinou, respectively.
The early goal shook the Cypriots who never threatened the Norwegian goal with sluggish play in the first half save for Michael Constantinou's header over the bar of an Efstathios Aloneftis cross in the 39th minute.
Cyprus picked up the pace in the second half, missing several good chances to equalize, including an Aloneftis shot in the 68th that Hangeland cleared off the line.
Aloneftis missed another opportunity four minutes later when he was left unmarked inside the box to one-time an Andreas Avraam pass, but his high shot was deftly pushed over the bar by Knudsen.
In the 77th, the speedy Omonia Nicosia forward tried to catch Knudsen off guard with a long lob that hit the top of the crossbar.
Norway's best chance in the second half came in the 66th when Carew's backward diving volley from 10 yards out was well saved by Georgallides.
"I'm very happy for the three points, we had a strong, impressive first half," said Norwegian coach Egil Olsen. "Cyprus impressed me, surprised me in the second half, especially after the goal. We were a bit lucky to take home three points because the scoring opportunities were equal."
Cyprus coach Angelos Anastasiades said mistakes in the first half proved costly for his side.
"I'm very disappointed because I believed that we could have a positive result," said Anastasiades. "But you can't win if you don't run and we didn't run in the first half."
