Malta don't really present much of a challenge for anyone, so it shouldn't be surprising that they didn't present much of a challenge for Italy. The Azzurri were in need of a win after their disappointing draw in Bulgaria, and they got it in extremely comfortably fashion on Tuesday evening.
The Azzurri won 2-0, and if that doesn't look dominant, that's because Italy doesn't really do the whole "hang eight goals on poor teams" thing. Mattia Destro scored a stunner in the 5th minute and Italy decided they didn't need to embarrass the poor Maltese side. Riccardo Montolivo set up Destro with a great long ball, and the young striker's finish was perfect.
The Italians dominated, but didn't score again until second half stoppage time. Federico Peluso turned in a ball by Andrea Pirlo to clinch the win for Italy in the 92nd minute, though the ball deflected off Malta's Andrew Cohen, and it might go down as an own goal. Hopefully Peluso isn't robbed of his first national team tally.
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