ITALY – FRANCE 3-1
GOALS: 10’pt Olise, 26’pt, 30’st (rig) P.Esposito, 18’st Frattesi
ITALY (4-3-3): Donnarumma 6.5; Kayode 6.5, Scalvini 7, Bastoni 6.5, Calafiori 7; Frattesi 7.5 (28’st Doumbia 6), Tonali 7, Barella 6.5 (47’st Ricci sv); S.Esposito 6 (17’st Vergara 7), P.Esposito 8 (47’st Scamacca sv), Cambiaghi 7.5 (17’st Dimarco 7). On the bench: Carnesecchi, Vicario, Fagioli, Palestra, Romano, Ghilardi, Koleosho. Coach: Mancini 7.5
FRANCE (4-3-3): Maignan 5.5; Gusto 4.5 (32’st Kumbedi sv), Upamecano 4, Jacquet 4.5, Truffert 5 (32’st Diouf sv); Cherki 6.5 (37’st Camavinga sv), Da Cunha 5, Rabiot 5.5; Olise 6.5, Barcola 6 (32’st Kroupi sv), Douè 5.5 (32’st Mayulu sv). On the bench: Restes, Risser, Camavinga, Konatè, Yoro, Zaire-Emery, Pagis. Coach: Zidane 5
REFEREE: Kovacs (Romania) 6
NOTES: pitch in good condition. Spectators: 71,452 for a revenue of 2,378,042 euros. In the 15th minute Sebastiano Esposito kicked out a penalty. Booked: Jacquet, P.Esposito, Bastoni, Kroupi. Corners 4-3. Recovery 1’pt, 4’st.
Italy wins 3-1 against France and takes first place in Group 1 of League A of the UEFA Nations League. The goals scored by Frattesi and Pio Esposito (a brace) were decisive, in Sunday’s match away to Belgium a draw will be enough to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition.
The formations: Mancini confirms the 4-3-3, Zidane without Mbappé
Mancini confirmed the 4-3-3, with space for the Bastoni-Scalvini duo in front of Donnarumma, with Kayode and Calafiori on the outside. Frattesi and Barella escorted Tonali, in attack Pio Esposito was supported by his brother Sebastiano and Cambiaghi. France responded with a mirror-image module, Zidane had to do without Mbappè (who was still present at San Siro), leaving room for the Douè-Barcola-Olise trident in attack.
The first half: Donnarumma’s error, Olise’s goal and Pio Esposito’s equalizer
The guests, after an initial Italian outburst, immediately raised their dribbling line: Douè scared Donnarumma in the 3rd minute, in the 9th minute the Italian goalkeeper defused Rabiot’s header. A few seconds later the Transalpines undermined the Italian defense: Olise, following an error in the setup phase by Donnarumma himself, broke the deadlock. The Azzurri struggled to set up the game, the offensive outbursts of the French wingers made the match even more complex.
However, the difficulties vanished following the first lapse of attention from the French defence: in the 25th minute Cambiaghi passed Malo Gusto, Pio Esposito was able to anticipate Upamecano for the 1-1 goal. In the 35th minute the visitors reacted, Barcola hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box.
The second half: the missed penalty, Frattesi’s overtaking and Pio Esposito’s hat-trick
In the second half, Italy had a proactive approach, attacking France from the front. Donnarumma redeemed himself after the second mistake by deflecting Cherki’s shot onto the post. The Azzurri found more space on the left thanks to Cambiaghi’s lunges, in the 15th minute the Bologna attacker earned a penalty which was then kicked wide by Sebastiano Esposito.
Mancini decided to deploy Dimarco in the offensive trident, a few seconds after entering the pitch the Inter winger made the assist for the overtaking goal, with Frattesi able to insert himself from the back. In the 30th minute, Italy scored the hat-trick from the penalty spot, with Pio Esposito scoring his ninth goal in 14 appearances for the Azzurri (penalty awarded by Vergara). Not even the four substitutions made by Zidane gave a shock, the Azzurri returned to victory at home against France after sixty-four years.
San Siro celebrates Kimi Antonelli, tribute to Mazzola and Baresi
At the end of the first half San Siro celebrated Kimi Antonelli who, in Mexico, became Formula 1 world champion. Before the match, Sandro Mazzola and Franco Bares were honored
Mancini after the victory over France: «Great performance»
“The boys want to redeem themselves from everything that has happened: we have to work, but little by little we will get to the finish line.” These are the first words of the Italian coach, Roberto Mancini, after Italy’s victory over France at the Meazza. «Great performance: the boys were very good. I’m very happy for them and for the people who had fun.” It started with Donnarumma’s mistake for the 0-1: «These are mistakes that shouldn’t happen, we remained calm and deservedly won. After the deficit it could have ended in a goleada, but instead we remained calm and deservedly won.”