Goals from Luka Modric and Andrej Kramaric got Croatia off to a winning start as they beat Malta 2-0 in their Euro 2016 qualifier.
Malta were forced to play over an hour with 10 men after Steve Borg was sent off for angrily reacting to a challenge from Mario Mandzukic on 31 minutes.
Borg was given a straight red card after a coming-together with Mandzukic, and the Atletico Madrid striker was also booked for his part in the altercation.
Despite Malta's first-half resistance, it didn't take long before for the Croats to take the lead in the second period.
Real Madrid midfielder Modric netted almost immediately after the restart to mark his 29th birthday with a goal for his national side from all of 30 yards.
With less than 10 minutes remaining any chance of a Malta comeback was wiped out when Andrej Kramaric struck to give Niko Kovac's side the points in their opening game.
