Rampant Croatia destroy Azerbaijan

Croatia made light work of Azerbaijan this evening, scoring six goals in the first 61 minutes to record an emphatic 6-0 victory in their Euro 2016 qualifier in Osijek and climb to the top of Group H in the process.

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It didn't take long for the breakthrough to come, as a Darijo Srna cross in the 11th minute was met by Andrej Kramaric, who smashed the ball home from close range to put Croatia a goal up.

Things would get even better for Nico Kovac's charges, who doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Ivan Perisic headed an Ivan Rakitic free kick past Kamran Agayev.

Azerbaijan then truly crumbled in first-half injury time, as Perisic struck another header into the net in the 45th minute.

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Moments after the beleaguered visitors kicked off again, Luka Modric sliced open the visitors' defence to set up Marcelo Brozovic, who added a fourth for Croatia.

There was to be no respite from Croatia's relentless attacks in the second half, and in the 55th minute, Elnur Allahverdiev brought down Darijo Srna to gift the hosts a penalty.

Modric duly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner past Agayev for his side's fifth unanswered goal.

To add insult to injury, Rashad Sadygov proceeded to slice the ball into his own net just after the hour to add a sixth strike to Croatia's tally for the evening.

The final 30 minutes of the game were mostly a formality, Azerbaijan unable to muster a response to leave Croatia celebrating an emphatic victory that saw them climb to the top of Group H, equal on points with Italy but with a better goal difference.