Italy clashed heads with England at Wembley Stadium as they looked to secure a victory and lift the UEFA European Championship trophy earlier tonight. The Italian players made a sloppy start to the game and conceded the opening goal in the second minute when Luke Shaw scored with an excellent strike. The Three Lions hung on to their narrow advantage and went into the half-time break one goal to the good.
Roberto Mancini’s men made a quick start to the second half and finally managed to level the scoreline courtesy of Leonardo Bonucci’s finish from close range in the 67th minute. Both teams fought tooth and nail to net the winner but could only manage to grind out a 1-1 draw after normal time.
The two sides cancelled each other out in extra time as the match went to penalties. Italy ended up with the penalty shootout in a dramatic fashion as they narrowly edged out Gareth Southgate’s men by a 3-2 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each Italy player performed during the match against England.
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – 8/10
Donnarumma made one good save during the game and ended up making a couple of excellent stops in the shootout to win the cup for Italy.
RB: Giovanni Di Lorenzo – 7.5/10
He made a few important interceptions at the back and engineered two key chances for his teammates up top.
CB: Leonardo Bonucci – 8.5/10
He hardly put a foot wrong in the game and did well to neutralise the threat of Harry Kane throughout the whole 120 minutes.
CB: Giorgio Chiellini – 8/10
Chiellini was a rock at the back as he won multiple aerial duels for his team. He led his team well and deserved to end up on the winning side.
LB: Emerson – 7/10
The Chelsea full-back did what was asked of him down the left flank and deserves credit for making some energetic dashes going forward.
CM: Nicolo Barella – 6/10
Barella hardly got into the game and had to be replaced early in the second half.
CM: Jorginho – 6.5/10
The Chelsea midfielder anchored the midfield quite well and timed his tackles well to secure the ball back a few times for his side. However, he missed a penalty in the shootout.
CM: Marco Verratti – 7/10
He got stuck in with some crunching tackles and was lively in the England half as well.
RW: Federico Chiesa – 7/10
He caused a few problems for the English defenders but lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
ST: Ciro Immobile – 6/10
Immobile struggled to give a good account of himself in the first half and got substituted in the 54th minute.
LW: Lorenzo Insigne – 6.5/10
The Napoli winger was a constant menace for the English defenders and worked his socks off down the left wing. However, there was no goal or assist for him tonight.
Substitutes:
CM: Bryan Cristante – 6.5/10
He added some energy to the Italian midfield in the second half.
ST: Domenico Berardi – 7/10
He was a real handful for the English defenders and ended up scoring his penalty in the shootout.
RW: Federico Bernardeschi – 6/10
Bernardeschi had some bright moments in the attacking third and deserves a pat on the back for scoring his penalty.
ST: Andrea Belotti – 5/10
The Torino striker missed a penalty in the shootout.
CM: Manuel Locatelli – 6/10
He kept things solid in midfield.
LB: Alessandro Florenzi – N/A
Florenzi hardly had any time to make an impact.
