Croatia reach Euro 2016 with 1-0 win in Malta
ByReuters
Updated 13/10/2015 at 21:37 GMT
Croatia squeezed into the Euro 2016 finals with a 1-0 away win over of Malta on Tuesday which enabled them to finish as Group H runners-up after a turbulent qualifying campaign.
Croatia's Ivan Perisic (R) celebrates after scoring during the Euro 2016 qualifying football match between Malta and Croatia on October 13, 2015 at the National Stadium in Ta’Qali, Malta
Image credit: AFP
Ivan Perisic scored a 25th-minute winner to lift the Croatians above Norway after the Scandinavians conceded two second-half goals in a 2-1 defeat at group winners Italy, who also qualified.
The Italians finished on 24 points, four ahead of Croatia and five clear of Norway, with the latter confined to November's two-legged playoffs.
Needing to win and for Norway not to beat Italy, the Croatians laid siege to the home team and missed a string of chances either side of Perisic's goal.
Having squandered two sitters, the winger found the back of the net with a deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area which wrong-footed Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg.
After learning that the result in Rome had turned their way, the Croatians endured a nervy last 10 minutes when they sat back on their slender lead.
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