Turkey started brightly but could not maintain the pace as goals from Riccardo Saponara and Mattia Destro gave Italy their third UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying victory.

Carlo Pinsoglio was forced to make an early save from Sefa Yilmaz after a lapse in the Italian defence, but a fifth successive Group 7 win never looked to be on the cards for Turkey.

Destro and Fausto Rossi both had sights of goal before Lorenzo Insigne beat two defenders on the left and set up the ever-influential Manolo Gabbiadini, whose ball for Saponara left the Empoli FC striker with a simple finish on the stroke of half-time.

Italy might have had a second within two minutes of the restart when Destro set up Insigne, but another goal was not long in coming, Gabbiadini teeing up Destro, whose clumsy shot beat Özkan Karabulut a little more by luck than judgement.

The goalkeeper denied substitute Alessandro Florenzi another, with Insigne's late dismissal for a second booking taking a little of the gloss off a win that leaves Ciro Ferrara's side with an unsullied record after three games this campaign.