Azerbaijan moved off the foot of Group H following a 2-0 win over Malta in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday.

It took just four minutes for Azerbaijan to open the scoring, with Cavid Huseynov heading a cross from Namik Alaskarov into the back of the net.

Malta had a golden chance to level the scores eight minutes later, but Alfred Effiong's close-range effort was saved by Kamran Agayev.

Azerbaijan continued to look the most likely to add to the scoring, however, with Vuqar Nadirov flashing one just wide after 22 minutes.

Ruslan Gurbanov also came close for the home side late in the first period, but the forward, who entered as a first-half substitute, missed the target as Azerbaijan entered the interval with a one-goal lead.

The early stages of the second period brought few chances for either team, but Azerbaijan captain Rashad Sadygov missed the target after 64 minutes as Malta remained in the match.

Malta had a couple of half-chances, but Jonathan Caruana's effort was always moving wide of the post, before Stephen Pisani brought a smart save from Agayev.

Azerbaijan made sure of the points late on when Dmitri Nazarov bent a shot into the far corner.

The victory for the home side was their first in any competitive match since October 2013. Malta have replaced Azerbaijan at the bottom of the group after picking up just one point from their five matches thus far.

Written by
Matt Law