Italy went behind after 12 seconds but came back to beat France 3-1 in a highly entertaining Nations League Group A2 opening game on Friday.
Bradley Barcola found the net in the opening minute when he caught Giovanni Di Lorenzo napping and raced into the area before curling a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Italy levelled after half an hour with Federico Dimarco volleying home a deft backheel pass from Sandro Tonali, and the sides went in level at the break after a pulsating opening half.
Five minutes after the interval France were rocked again when Davide Frattesi put Italy ahead, and Giacomo Raspadori gave the visitors the breathing space they needed in the 74th minute to silence the Parc des Prince crowd.
“Magnificent game. We were afraid that he [Tonali] wouldn’t make it to play 90 minutes, but in the end he gave two good bursts. We found a very strong player again,” the Italy manager, Luciano Spalletti, said.
In Friday’s other game in Group A2, Kevin De Bruyne scored twice to lead Belgium to a 3-1 win over Israel in a match played behind closed doors in Hungary because of security concerns.
Belgium’s captain put his side ahead after 21 minutes but Israel equalised nine minutes before the break despite spending most of the half defending at Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Stadion. Youri Tielemans restored Belgium’s lead straight after half-time and De Bruyne tucked away a penalty soon after to extend their advantage. Belgium could afford to waste another penalty as they went top of the table alongside Italy.
In Group B3, Erling Haaland was unable to recreate his domestic goalscoring form as Norway were forced to share the spoils in a goalless draw with Kazakhstan despite having 19 shots.
Slovenia and Austria also picked up a point each from their first match with a 1-1 draw. Benjamin Sesko’s first-half penalty was cancelled out 12 minutes later when Konrad Laimer pounced on a ball in the box and finished from close range.
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In Group C2, Ioannis Pittas struck in the first half to earn Cyprus a 1-0 win over Lithuania and Dennis Man, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus scored as Romania secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Kosovo, who had Mergim Vojvoda sent off late on.
In Group B4, Orri Óskarsson and Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson struck in either half to earn Iceland a 2-0 victory over Montenegro.
Source: theguardian.com
