How it happened
Kristjan Asllani scored both goals as Albania beat San Marino 2-1 at Air Albania in Tirana, the second a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time. It was a result far tighter than the play suggested.
Asllani put Albania ahead after 11 minutes and the home side led 1-0 at half-time. San Marino levelled in the 66th minute through Lorenzo Lazzari, who had been on the pitch for 32 minutes.
The equaliser left the group fixture, Matchday 4 in League C, Group 1, finely poised until the 90+3rd minute. Asllani converted from the spot to settle it. No red cards were shown.
The numbers
Albania dominated every column. They had 26 shots to eight, seven of them on target against three, and won the corners 10 to 1. They held 70% of possession.
Expected goals put the gap at 2.7 to 0.55, so Albania scored fewer than the chances suggested. San Marino's 0.55 included 0.38 from Lazzari alone.
Asllani had the best rating on the pitch, a 10. He had 105 touches, five key passes and 1.02 expected goals. Elseid Hysaj shared a match rating of 7.9 with Lazzari, with six key passes and 93 touches.
San Marino goalkeeper Edoardo Colombo made five saves and finished with a match rating of 5.7. The game was played in cloudy conditions at 16C.
What it means
Albania have now beaten San Marino in all four meetings in the supplied record, including a 3-0 win on 29 September. This one was far closer than the 3-0, 5-0, 2-0 and 3-0 scorelines of the earlier games.
Albania's last ten matches read four wins and six defeats, with 10 goals scored and 10 conceded. San Marino have one draw and nine defeats in their last ten, with five scored and 30 conceded, so a goal at Tirana is a small mark of progress even in defeat.
No table positions are available for the group, so the three points cannot be placed in context beyond the result itself.