First-half blitz sees Italy exact revenge

Rome, November 18

Federico Chiesa scored two first-half goals as defending champions Italy beat North Macedonia 5-2 to gain a measure of revenge and move closer to qualifying for the European Championship. Italy now need only a draw against Ukraine on Monday to secure a spot at next year’s tournament in Germany.

North Macedonia kept Italy from qualifying for last year’s World Cup with a 1-0 playoff win over the Azzurri in Palermo. “The important thing is that we won the game. Unfortunately, we conceded two goals that overall I don’t think we deserved to let in, but now we will fight it out directly with Ukraine,” Chiesa said on Friday. “We showed that we wanted to dominate the match and we deserved the victory.”

Kane keeps on scoring

London: England captain Harry Kane got a yellow card for diving and not a single shooting chance until his inevitable goal came in the 75th minute of a 2-0 win over Malta. The Bayern Munich striker on Friday extended his scoring streak in a prolific season to eight straight games for club and country in a routine win for England, who had already secured the Group E win last month.

His record-extending 62nd goal for England came after a slick series of passes that sliced through Malta’s defence and raised the tone of an often drab game. — AP