ROME, Italy (Reuters) - Federico Chiesa scored twice as Italy secured a 5-2 home victory against North Macedonia in their Euro 2024 qualifying clash on Friday, giving them an edge ahead of a deciding encounter with Ukraine on Monday for a place at the finals.
The Group C victory means Italy only need a draw against Ukraine to secure second place in the group along with already-qualified England and reach next year’s finals in Germany.
Italy have encountered difficulties in their history with North Macedonia, suffering a 1-0 loss at home in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and later playing a 1-1 Euro qualifying draw in manager Luciano Spalletti's debut as Azzurri coach in September.
"With our quality, sooner or later we do score goals, but there was this danger of counter-attacks that we were never troubled by in the first half but were a couple of times after the break," Spalletti told RAI Sport. Giacomo Raspadori had a goal disallowed for offside, followed by Chiesa's attempt from a tight angle that was saved by North Macedonia's Stole Dimitrievski.
Italy broke the deadlock after 17 minutes when an unmarked Matteo Darmian headed in a corner at the back post.
After 40 minutes, Italy had a chance to extend their advantage from the penalty spot after Nikola Serafimov's handball but Jorginho's attempt was saved by Dimitrievski.