Italy sweep Greece aside to take control of Group J
ByReuters
Published 08/06/2019 at 21:03 GMT
ATHENS, June 8 (Reuters) - Italy continued their perfect start to Euro 2020 qualifying with a comfortable 3-0 win over Greece in Athens on Saturday which sent them three points clear at the top of Group J.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Roberto Mancini’s side are in pole position after picking up three wins from their opening three games without conceding a goal.
The visitors blew the Greeks away with three goals in the 10 first-half minutes, with Nicolo Barella opening the scoring when he met an Andrea Belotti pull-back to sweep in the opener.
Lorenzo Insigne doubled Italy’s lead with an exquisite curling finish before Leonardo Bonucci completed the rout by heading in a third after 33 minutes.
Greece showed signs of life after the break as Salvatore Sirigu dived to palm away a Kostas Fortounis half-volley, while Italian winger Federico Chiesa squandered a glorious chance to make it four when he fired over unmarked from close range.
Finland moved into second place on six points with a 2-0 win over Bosnia in Tampere.
Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki struck both goals inside 12 second-half minutes, striding through the visiting defence to open the scoring before adding the second with a delicate chip.
The Finns are now unbeaten in their last 10 home games, winning eight and drawing two, and sit two points ahead of Greece and Bosnia in third and fourth places respectively.
Armenia beat Liechtenstein 3-0 in a meeting between the bottom two teams to earn their first points of the campaign and leave the visitors bottom of the group with three defeats.
In the next round of fixtures on Tuesday, Italy host Bosnia in Turin, Armenia face Greece in Athens and Finland travel to Liechtenstein. (Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie, editing by Ed Osmond)
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement