Italy put the terrible match against Faroe Islands behind their backs with an excellent performance against Lithuania to avenge the first leg result (1-1).
It was a convincing and determined performance by the entire Azzurri side who took the match into their hands right from the start with Di Natale and Quagliarella going close after just a few minutes of play.
The Italian side kept on pressing until Quagliarella managed to open the score for the World Champions in the 30th minute when his shot from 20 metres went past the helpless Grybauskas.
Lithuania could have equalized in the 42nd minute when Mikoliunas all alone in front of Buffon missed the opportunity to score thanks to the Juventus goalkeeper's reflexes, and three minutes later Quagliarella punished the home side with his second goal of the night. Once again it was a shot from the distance which the opposing goalkeeper could do nothing to stop it from entering his goal.
In the second half Italy held the match in its hands and could have added the third goal, however mostly due to the Azzurri's poor finishing, the result did not change as the match slowly came to an end, with the Italian side controlling the encounter without risking anything in defence.
This is an important win for Roberto Donadoni's team, as the Italians kept in touch with France, who defeated Georgia, and still maintained the lead over Scotland before next September's decisive encounters against Les Bleus and Ukraine for the qualification race.Labels: football fc, football news, football result, news |
