Italy earn 3-1 win over Georgia

Italy eventually overpowered Georgia 3-1 in a Euro 2008 qualifier yesterday to put their campaign firmly on track but they took charge only after the hosts were reduced to 10 men early in the second half.

The world champions struggled to break down an inspired Georgian defence until Jaba Kankava was sent off by English referee Mike Riley 15 minutes after half-time for a second yellow card with the score at 1-1 following two early goals.

Midfielder Mauro Camoranesi headed the visitors into a 2-1 lead within a minute of the red card after a fine cross from Antonio Di Natale and Simone Perrotta added a third from close range shortly afterwards in the Group B match.

Daniele De Rossi had opened the scoring in the 18th minute when his low drive from 25 metres completely fooled Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Lomaia.

Giorgi Shashiashvili equalised for the Georgians six minutes later, sending a 55,000-strong home crowd wild.

Italy raised the tempo after the interval but the home team defended well until Kankava received his marching orders for tackling Andrea Pirlo from behind.

From the same group, France bounced back four days after their surprise defeat by Scotland to crush the Faroe Islands 5-0.

The World Cup runners-up, who were beaten 1-0 on Saturday at Hampden Park, outclassed brave but limited opponents to score their third win out of four matches and join Scotland on nine points.

Ukraine ended the Scots' perfect start with a 2-0 win. Defender Oleksandr Kucher poked home from eight metres on the hour and captain Andriy Shevchenko added a late penalty.

Scotland captain Steven Pressley was sent off four minutes from time for bringing down a goalbound Shevchenko, who had hit the post in the first half.

In France, Louis Saha opened the scoring 37 seconds into the game from a headed pass by Thierry Henry, who doubled the advantage from close range after 22 minutes.

France then failed to make the dominance pay in a one-sided match until waking up in the last 15 minutes with two goals by David Trezeguet and one from fellow substitute forward Nicolas Anelka.

Croatia record

Croatia beat England 2-0 in Zagreb with two goals in nine minutes midway through the second half to replace the English at the top of Group E with a game in hand.

Croatia, who had remained unbeaten throughout 29 competitive home internationals since their first in 1994, extended that record to 30 matches with their victory over England.

They went ahead in the 60th minute when Eduardo da Silva sent a looping header over England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Croatia increased their lead nine minutes later when a harmless-looking back pass from defender Gary Neville to Robinson took an unlucky bounce off a divot as the England keeper swung his foot to clear and missed the ball which rolled into the back of his net.

In Bratislava, Lukas Podolski scored a pair of goals as Germany outclassed Slovakia 4-1 in a Group D qualifier.

Podolski's first goal after 13 minutes in the game set the tone for the Germans, who attacked at will throughout the match on their way to making it three wins out of three in the campaign.

Michael Ballack and Bastien Schweinsteiger added two more before half-time in a game that was never in doubt.

Stanislav Varga spoiled goalkeeper Jens Lehman's shutout with a header in the 58th minute before Podolski scored his second of the evening when Miroslav Klose slotted the ball across the penalty area to his unmarked team mate after the duo sprung the offside trap.

The game was marred briefly by a skirmish in the crowd when several German fans battled Slovak police, who used truncheons.

Before the match, about 180 German hooligans registered by German police were stopped at border crossings as they tried to travel to the match.

Last year, German fans rioted with Slovak police after a match between the two teams in Bratislava.

The Netherlands scored a 2-1 win over Albania to regain the lead in Group G.

Robin van Persie opened the scoring after 14 minutes, while his cross four minutes before the break was netted by Albania's Nevil Dede to double the lead.

Despite a good start after their convincing display in a 1-1 draw in Bulgaria on Saturday, Marco van Basten's team slipped to a worrying level.

Albania fought back with Debatik Curri on target midway through the second half.