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.
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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