Georgia hold on to move up to third
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
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Estonia 1-2 Georgia
First-half strikes from Tornike Okriashvil and Levan Kenia did the damage in Tallinn but a late own goal set up a tense finale.
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Georgia withstood a nervous late charge from Estonia to claim a 2-1 victory which moves them above Croatia to third in UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group 5.
Levan Kenia was the inspiration for Alexandr Chivadze's team, teeing up Tornike Okriashvili for the 12th-minute opener before doubling the lead himself midway through the half. The dominant visitors could have extended their advantage, with Zakaria Beglarishvili and Okriashvili both going close.
Yet gradually Estonia began to make inroads, and the excellent Maksim Paponov helped reduce the deficit nine minutes from time as his free-kick was turned into his own net by Solomon Kverkvelia. The section's bottom team pushed for an equaliser but could not break through so Georgia, whose top-two aspirations are over, go third.
