Italy 2-1 Azerbaijan: Giorgio Chiellini scores all three goals

Giorgio Chiellini scored twice for Italy and netted an own goal for Azerbaijan in a 2-1 win in a European Championship qualifier as the Azzurri remained perfect under new coach Antonio Conte.

Azerbaijan defended with 10 men and Italy had trouble creating opportunities until Chiellini took advantage of an error by the goalkeeper to give the Azzurri the lead in the 44th minute.

Chiellini then scored into his own net in the 76th minute as he attempted to defend a corner kick but he made up for his error by heading in again eight minutes from the end. 

'In good and bad I did it all,' said Chiellini. 'But the important thing is we came out on top.'

Croatia, who won 1-0 at Bulgaria, share the Group H lead with Italy with six points each.

Bulgaria and Norway, who won 3-0 at Malta, are next with three points each while Azerbaijan and Malta trail with zero. 

In Bulgaria, Nikolay Bodurov scored an own goal for Croatia in the 36th.

Norway were helped by two goals from Blackburn forward Joshua King, who also set up the opener from Mats Moller Daehli.

Bakudaily.Az