Russia win but Italy advance

Russia completed their Group 5 elite round campaign with their first victory against section winners Italy, but it was not enough to seal a place in the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals.

With two wins from their first two games against the Czech Republic and Nothern Ireland, Italy were already assured of top spot and a place in France in July.

Russia came into the match with a pair of draws and though they signed off on a winning note thanks to goals from Irakli Logua, Maksim Kanunnikov and substitute Evgeni Bashkirov, they were only able to finish second, a point behind Italy.

Italy coach Massimo Piscedda made five changes to his side and left out striker Mattia Destro who had scored three times in the previous two matches.

Russia quickly seized the initiative with Logua opening the scoring after only five minutes when he pounced on an error in the Italy defence, before Kanunnikov doubled the lead two minutes after the restart.

Captain Fabio Borini brought Italy back into the game with a long-range strike in the 62nd minute, but just three minutes after that Russia restored their two-goal cushion when Bashkirov shot past Mattia Perin after being put through by Arseni Logashov.

Russia's afternoon ended on a sour note when Aleksandr Kokorin was shown a straight red card in the 85th minute.