Italy 1-0 Malta: Narrow win means Azzurri top Group H

Date: 3rd September 2015 at 10:46pm
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Pelle Italy maltaItaly narrowly defeated Malta 1-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday night in their Euro 2016 qualifier, meaning they top Group H ahead of Croatia.

They were the better the team for most of the match but the Maltese defence held firm until 70 minutes when Graziano Pelle gave them the lead.

Early in the game Italy nearly scored through a deflection on Andrea Bertolacci’s shot which meant Andrew Hogg had to make an athletic save in between the Maltese sticks.

They were close to opening the scoring again just a few minutes later when Eder tried his luck from outside the box but it rolled a whisker wide of the goal.

Italy have beaten Malta on all seven occasions they’ve played and have a positive ratio of 20 goals to two, but the goalless scoreline at half-time meant Antonio Conte’s men had work to do.

The second half began in the same way as the first with the hosts controlling possession and again nearly scoring through Manolo Gabbiadini’s speculative but wonderful effort which struck the crossbar.

Graziano Pelle managed to direct a header on target on 70 minutes to finally open the scoring and give the Italians the lead after a fantastic defensive display from Malta kept them back for the majority of the game, with Antonio Candreva providing the assist with a good cross.

Italy were in the driving seat and over the next 20 minutes had plenty of efforts on goal, with several scrambles in the box making for an unnerving time for Hogg in goal, but he survived and kept the score at 1-0.

The Azzurri’s first win in 2015 means they hold first place in their group, one point ahead of second-placed Croatia who drew earlier in the day, while Malta remain rock bottom with one solitary point.

 

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