Ten-man Georgia hold on to claim win

Georgia finally got off the mark in Group 4 as goals from Beka Gotsiridze and Giorgi Merebashvili helped them to a 2-1 victory against Kazakhstan, despite playing over half the match in Rustavi with ten men.

Pivotal dismissal
Having begun their UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign with back-to-back losses to Spain and Poland, Georgia looked well on course for a much-needed victory midway through the match. Gotsiridze's header gave them a deserved lead on 17 minutes and Merebashvili extended the advantage two minutes before the interval. Yet the home side went in for the break with ten men after Giorgi Khidesheli was sent off, and Kazakhstan fought back after the restart. They finally broke through in injury time when Vladimir Noskov slotted in from the penalty spot but it was too little, too late as Georgia held on.