Italy vs England
UEFA Nations League
Group A3
Giuseppe Meazza
England went into the contest in desperate need of a result to avoid relegation. The hosts being out of the World Cup had a point to prove.
The first half understandably proceeded with caution with neither team wanting to concede an advantage. Ultimately the half ended without a goal.
Raspador scored the only goal of the fixture in the 68th minute. This sealed a 1-0 result for the Azzurri.
Italy vs England: Match report
Full time score: Italy 1-0 England
Goal: G Raspadori (68’)
Italy: 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma, 4 Rafael Toloi, 19 Leonardo Bonucci, 15 Francesco Acerbi; 2 Giovanni Di Lorenzo, 18 Nicolo Barella, 8 Jorginho, 16 Bryan Cristante, 3 Federico Dimarco; 10 Giacomo Raspadori, 9 Gianluca Scamacca
Substitutes: 11 Wilfried Gnonto for Scamacca 63’, 6 Tommaso Pobega for Barella 63’, 20 Manolo Gabbiadini for Raspadori 81’, 7 Davide Frattesi for Dimarco 89’, 13 Emerson Palmieri for Jorginho 89’
Goals: Raspadori 68’
Yellow cards: Bonucci 48’, Di Lorenzo 80’
England: 1 Nick Pope; 2 Kyle Walker), 5 Eric Dier, 6 Harry Maguire; 3 Reece James, 8 Jude Bellingham, 4 Declan Rice, 7 Bukayo Saka; 10 Raheem Sterling, 9 Harry Kane, 11 Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Substitutes: 15 Jack Grealish for Saka 72’, 14 Luke Shaw for Walker 72’
Bookings: Jack Grealish 90+3’
Managers’ reaction
Roberto Mancini: “The system doesn’t matter, but the enthusiasm and personality of the team counts. We still have difficulties, with so many young players and sometimes during the match we have to suffer. But they played a good game today. In a group with Germany and England, with many young players, we are playing for primacy in the last race. It is important given the suffering we have to suffer in the coming months. “Then at the press conference Mancini returns to the forfeit of Ciro Immobile.”
Gareth Southgate: “It is difficult for me to criticise the performance. My team had more possession, more shots, more shots on target and we played very well. However, we failed to capitalise on decisive moments defensively. But we did have moments where we must be more decisivein attack.
