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ITA vs BEL
UEFA Nations League
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Italy
vs
Belgium
2
FT
2
Action
Lineups
All
Facts Only
All
Full-Time: 2 - 2
Belgium have come from behind to claim a draw away from home with Italy. Make sure you join us again on Tribe tomorrow for more UEFA Nations League action, with Germany's clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina being the standout. It's been a pleasure bringing you this one from Rome. For now, Harrison Ryburn signing out.
As mentioned, next for Italy is a clash with group cellar dwellars Isreal in Udine in four days time. They'll be heavy favorites to pick up three points there, and in comfortable fashion too. Meanwhile, Belgium return home for a crunch clash with neigbours France in Brussels, where they'll be looking to make up for their past two defeats to Les Bleues.
A much better result for Belgium, despite missing Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Courtois. It looked as if they were going to be blown out of the park after conceding inside the first sixty seconds though, and conceding a second not long after. They were slow and sloppy early on, and looked lifeless as the Italian side ran rings around them. Pellegrini's dismisall turned the match in their favour though, and Tedesco' side were good enough to step up and take advantage. They bossed more of the field position and showed a little bit more incision on attack, particuarly with Doku down the left flank. It was their set-piece structures that really put the Azzurri under pressure though, scoring from a free kick, and then a corner in the second half. They'll probably feel slightly aggrieved they couldn't find a winner, but there positive to take out of the way that the Red Devils rallied.
Luciano Spalletti will be slightly dissapointed they couldn't pick up the win tonight, but they were superb through that opening half hour. The utilisation of a back three worked to in their favour once again, and they continually caught out the Belgian defence with the work of both Dimarco and Cambiaso as wing-backs out wide. The switch of play and quality of build-up was sublime for the two goals, and it really looked a walk in the park for Italy early. They lost their concentration as the half wore on though, and Pellegrini's red card completelty changed the game. It cast them on the back foot, and it became more about slowing the pace of the contest down for Spalletti's men as the game went on. They created a couple of chances on the break to steal the win for themselves, but it didn't quite go their way. Nevertheless, they still played some good football tonight, and remain in pole position in the group with Israel up next in Udine in four days time.
Fulltime in Rome and it finishes all square between Italy and Belgium in a Nations League thriller. The Azzurri appeared to be crusing to a third straight victory after taking a two-goal lead inside the first 24 minutes, by virtue of goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Mateo Retegui. A clumsy challenge from Lorenzo Pellegrini reduced Italy to ten though, and Belgium took advantage to peg one back through Maxime de Cuyper before the break, before levelling it up with Leandro Trossard in the second half. The Red Devils knocked on the door for a winner in the final half hour, but they couldn't quite find the back of the net again, and Italy held on for a draw. It's a result that maintains the Azzurri's unbeaten record atop Group A2, whilst Belgium remain third with four points.
90+6'
Pisilli catches Fofana on the left flank, and the youngster picks up a yellown card on debut. Belgium play it quickly, but they can't lift a delivery into the middle, and that will signal the final whistle.
N. Pisilli
90+6'
90+5'
Donnarumma launches the goal kick over halfway, and Calafiori wins possession on the left. He cuts inside and finds Pisilli, who goes down in a very heavy challenge from Tielemans. The midfielder is lucky not to recieve a yellow, and Italy will send numbers forward for the set piece. It's played quickly, but Udogie can't latch onto it down the left, and Casteels comes up to collect.
90+4'
The corner off the right is whipped in towards Faes at the back post again. Di Lorenzo gets in the way to disrupt the big defender this time though, and it bounces away over the byline for another goal kick.