Aquilani gives Italy win over Montenegro

Alberto Aquilani struck twice to hand Group Eight leaders Italy a 2-1 win over a plucky Montenegro in an open World Cup qualifying game on Wednesday. The midfielder, who replaced Riccardo Montolivo in Italy's only change from Saturday's 0-0 draw in...

Alberto Aquilani struck twice to hand Group Eight leaders Italy a 2-1 win over a plucky Montenegro in an open World Cup qualifying game on Wednesday.

The midfielder, who replaced Riccardo Montolivo in Italy's only change from Saturday's 0-0 draw in Bulgaria, slid home his first international goal on eight minutes after goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic had parried Simone Pepe's cross.

Mirko Vucinic, who plays in Italy with AS Roma, brought a talented Montenegro level following a counter attack but Aquilani's deflected effort on the half hour put the world champions back in front.

Italy top the group with 10 points from four games and next travel to Montenegro in March.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.