Lively Argentina see off Italy 2-1

ROME (Reuters) - Argentina made light of the absence of leading forward Lionel Messi to beat Italy 2-1 in an entertaining friendly in Rome on Wednesday.

Argentina's Banega shoots and scores against Italy during their international friendly soccer match in Rome

The South Americans dominated the early stages in front of a half-full Olympic Stadium and Gonzalo Higuain put them ahead after 20 minutes with a curling shot after a sloppy error by Italian Daniele De Rossi.

Argentina went 2-0 up when substitute Ever Banega fired home a fierce low shot from the edge of the area just three minutes after coming on at the start of the second half.

Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back for Italy against the run of play with a sweetly struck curling shot from outside the area on 76 minutes, setting up a spirited finale by the hosts who finally exerted some concerted pressure in the closing stages.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones, editing by Ed Osmond)