Azerbaijan win battles of minnows against Malta

Azerbaijan prevailed in the battle of the Group H minnows as they beat Malta 2-0.

Gabala striker Javid Huseynov scored the opening goal of the game four minutes in and it looked enough to decide a tie which features two sides who had one point between them prior to kick-off.

But Dimitrij Nazarov added an injury-time second for good measure to wrap things up.

Huseynov nodded in from close range after a Namik Alaskarov cross and that gave Azerbaijan plenty of confidence for the rest of the clash.

Malta threatened occasionally, with Alfred Effiong drawing a save from Kamran Agayev and Steven Pisani going close, but they were unable to find a way through.

Azerbaijan -- unlikely to threaten qualification despite this win -- also had other chances with Vuqar Nadirov and Ruslan Gurbanov going close, before Nazarov slammed in a second when he let fly from the edge of the area with the clock well past 90 minutes.