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Spain top group; Italy squeak by Macedonia; Wales and Georgia draw

Italy rallied to beat Macedonia 3-2 as the hosts fought back and were briefly in the lead against Giampiero Ventura's team in their Group G World Cup qualifying match on Sunday.

Andrea Belotti put the Azzurri in the lead in the 24th minute as he swept home from close range following Federico Bernardeschi's cross into the area from a corner kick.

But it was rapid-fire strikes from the hosts after the break that put them in the lead. Ilija Nestorovski's right-footed strike found the right corner of the net in the 57th minute and two minutes later, Macedonia were in the lead from a Ferhan Hasani strike from outside the penalty area.

Ciro Immobile put things on back on level terms in the 75th minute as he powered home an assist from Antonio Candreva to spare his team more blushes.

And it was Immobile again in injury time with Candreva picking up his second assist as Italy stole all three points at the death.

Nolito and Diego Costa were on point as Spain broke through in the second half to beat Albania 2-0 in Shkoder.

A resolute Albanian side were cheered loudly at half-time by the home support after having held La Roja to a 0-0 draw in the first 45 minutes.

But Spain, who dominated possession throughout the match, wouldn't be denied in the second half. David Silva found Costa in the centre of the penalty area in the 55th minute and the Chelsea man converted to give the visitors their opener.

Nolito carved up the Albanian defence, cutting in from the left side of the area and curling a low shot past Etrit Berisha to double the lead.

Spain are now in first in Group G, following a 1-1 draw against Italy before the weekend.

Wales were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Georgia as the visitors came from behind to secure a first point in Group D.

The hosts had taken an early lead and looked to be in for a comfortable evening when Gareth Bale headed home the opener inside 10 minutes, rising the highest to head home Joe Ledley's corner into the box.

However, Georgia found themselves level shortly after the restart with Tornike Okriashvili beating the Wales offside trap before slotting past Wayne Hennessey for the equaliser.

The visitors finished the match strongly and could well have left Cardiff with a victory, only for Valeri Kazaishvili's strike in the 80th minute to canon back off the crossbar.

Iceland maintained their unbeaten start with a 2-0 win over Turkey in Reykjavik.

Elmar Bjarnason's shot was deflected home by Turkey defender Omer Toprak to give the hosts the lead five minutes before half-time.

And less than three minutes later Alfred Finnbogason struck Iceland's second as they maintained the momentum from Thursday night's dramatic 3-2 win over Finland.

James McClean ensured the Republic of Ireland's trip to Moldova did not end in embarrassment as he struck twice in quick succession to secure a 3-1 victory in Chisinau.

Ireland flew out of the blocks and were ahead within two minutes as Shane Long ended an 18-game drought for club and country.

However, Igor Bugaev dragged the home side back onto level terms on the stroke of half-time as the visitors slept, and it took McClean's double -- which came in the 69th and 76th minutes -- to see Martin O'Neill's men home.

A Mario Mandzukic goal was enough for Croatia to pick up three points in Group I as they saw off Finland 1-0.

Mandzukic found the back of the net in the 18th minute for the visitors, heading home an Andrej Kramaric delivery from close range.

Croatia were unable to add to their tally but went on to secure a victory that consolidates their position at the top of their group.

Elsewhere in Group I, Artem Kravets, Andriy Yarmolenko and Ruslan Rotan were all on the score sheet as Ukraine claimed a 3-0 victory against Kosovo.

Kravets netted the opener in the 31st minute, picking out the bottom corner after being set up by Oleksandr Zinchenko.

And Yarmolenko made sure of the result in the 81st minute before Rotan added a third at the death to secure Ukraine's first win of the campaign.

Meanwhile, in Group G, Israel picked up their second victory of the campaign as they beat Liechtenstein 2-1, with Tomer Hemed grabbing a brace for the hosts.

Hemed needed just three minutes to open the scoring for Israel and he then doubled their lead and his tally for the night another 13 minutes later.

Maximilian Goppel pulled one back for Liechtenstein shortly after the break, but the visitors were unable to find an equaliser for the remainder of the game.

Aleksandar Mitrovic claimed a first-half brace as Serbia edged Austria 3-2 at Crvena Zvezda Stadium to move top of Group D.

The home side got off to a flying start and went ahead six minutes in as Mitrovic slotted Dusan Tadic's cross into the bottom corner just moments after heading wide.

But Austria were on level terms less than 10 minutes later as Marcel Sabitzer picked out the bottom-left corner from 12 yards before Slavoljub Muslin's hosts restored their lead when Mitrovic headed home his second goal midway through the first half with Tadic again providing the assist.

Marc Janko was on target with a shot straight down the middle of the Serbia goal as the away side struck back for a second time just after the hour mark but Tadic's winner with 15 minutes remaining sealed the three points for the home side.