Four-time champions Italy kept Spain from opening a significant advantage atop Group G by scoring two late goals and salvaging a 3-2 win against Macedonia on Sunday in European qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Lazio striker Ciro Immobile grabbed an injury-time winner, narrowly avoiding a World Cup qualifying embarrassment for Italy, who were staring at a shock defeat in Skopje against a Macedonia side ranked a lowly 146 in the world.
Torino striker Andrea Belotti had given Italy a 24th-minute lead, but Nestorokvski levelled just before the hour mark when he robbed Marco Verratti before tucking the ball past veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Two minutes later, Macedonia were ahead when midfielder Ferhan Hasani finished a smart move involving Goran Pandev and Nestorovski. However Immobile put Italy back on equal terms at 2-2 with 15 minutes left. And then the striker saved Italy with the winner two minutes into injury time, finishing off a Candreva cross.
Italy are second in Group G with seven points but Spain lead the way on goal difference after a deserved 2-0 win over Albania in Shkoder.
Georgia Hold Wales as Bale Closes in on Record
Gareth Bale scored his 25th goal for Wales but Georgia fought back strongly to earn a deserved 1-1 draw in a World Cup Group D qualifier in Cardiff on Sunday.
It left Wales, surprise semi-finalists at Euro 2016, with five points from three games and at risk of losing the group leadership after the day's later matches.
Georgia took their first point, following narrow defeats by Austria and Ireland.
Wales, who have only ever qualified for the finals once, in 1958, took the lead in the 10th minute when Real Madrid's Bale leapt above his markers to head in Joe Ledley's corner. He is now only three goals behind Ian Rush's national record of 28 goals.
The home team paid for a lack of urgency, however, after 57 minutes when Tornike Okriashvili headed an equaliser.
In the other Group D match, Southampton's Dusan Tadic scored the winner as Serbia beat Austria 3-2 in Belgrade.
(With inputs from Reuters and AP.)
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