If Roberto Mancini was looking for some answers from Italy from their Nations League second test against the Netherlands, he got some positive ones. The Azzurri beat the Oranje 1-0 at the Johann Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam thanks to a Nicoló Barella header in the first half added time and thus jumped to the top of Group 1 of the Nations League Division A with four points.
However, Italy’s convincing win was tainted by Nicoló Zaniolo’s knee injury. The Roma starlet had to leave the pitch in the 41st minute after crashing into Donny Van den Beek. He was able to do so on his own legs, but the true entity of the injury still remains to be seen. Zaniolo missed most of the past season due to a broken ligament – though on the other knee.
Italy were coming from a lukewarm debut against Bosnia where they had failed to create any clear scoring opportunity, while the Netherlands had won their Nations League debut with Poland. But the Azzurri played a different game tonight against one of the most up-and-coming young sides in Europe, managing to control the match tempo for most of the 90 minutes and only suffering a bit more than necessary in the last quarter.
Nicoló Barella’s winner was a display of team play and cooperation rarely seen among the Azzurri lines, which unexpectedly took the form of a deadly header – not exactly the specialty of the house, considering that the Sardinian playmaker is only 172 cms tall.
Coach Roberto Mancini made seven substitutions versus Friday night, including deploying Niccoló Zaniolo instead of Federico Chiesa to support center-forward Ciro Immobile, who took Andrea Belotti’s spot.
Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli won his first Azzurri cap as a starter next to Nicoló Barella and the returning Jorginho in midfield. Captain Giorgio Chiellini recovered his spot in the middle of the defensive line after being left out with Bosnia due to a mistake in communicating the official lineup (!)
Italy appeared more proactive and started pushing from the left flank, where Leonardo Spinazzola gave life to a thrilling duel with Atalanta’s Hans Hateboer. On the back, Gianluigi Donnarumma initially appeared a little insecure and even Giorgio Chiellini’s ball control was less precise than usual.
The Oranje, however, didn’t come to pose any serious threat to the Italian goal for the full first half, their only chance being a central shot by Georginio Wijnaldum easily blocked by Donnarumma.
The Azzurri, on the other hand, did enough to legitimate their one-goal lead at half time. In the 16th minute, one of Spinazzola’s progressions triggered Nicolò Zaniolo’s marvelous acrobatic shot. The winger’s conclusion, however, missed the goal target. Two minutes later, Lorenzo Insigne served his fellow Neapolitan citizen Ciro Immobile: The Serie A top scorer aimed at the bottom right corner of Jasper Cillessen’s goal, missing it by a few inches.
In the 35th minute, it was Lorenzo Insigne’s time to go for the shot – a beautiful right-foot curl that gave quite a scare to the Dutch defense, despite crashing into the side banners.
Then, the bad news came for Italy – something that will keep coach Mancini, the Roma staff, and every true calcio lover anxious for quite some time: Nicolò Zaniolo raised a white flag due to a knee injury. Everton’s “bad boy” Moise Kean replaced him.
But the Azzurri‘s concerns suddenly turned into joy as Italy drew first blood right before the half time break at the end of a spectacular team effort featuring Spinazzola, Insigne, Immobile, and saw Nicolò Barella finishing with a perfectly-timed header as he anticipated his marker Nathan Aké. Probably one of the best Azzurri goals since a long time.
After the restart, the Immobile-Insigne partnership continued to work brilliantly as the Lazio forward served Lorenzo Il Magnifico with a superb back-heel pass and the Neapolitan called Cillessen to action to prevent Italy’s second.
The Oranje struggled to build their play and Memphis Depay’s shot from sidereal distance in the 60th minute was the perfect image of Dwight Lodeweges’ side’s struggles to create scoring chances. Donny Van de Beek was the only one who managed to test Gianluigi Donnarumma’s reflexes but the Italian portierone promptly denied him.
Italy’s opportunities, on the other hand, kept arriving from the left side where Ciro Immobile continued to wreak havoc. His service for Moise Kean put Everton’s 22-year-old in condition to shot from the center of the box, only to see his weak conclusion hitting the post. Lodeweges understood that Hans Hateboer was now suffering and replaced him with Denzel Dumfries.
Italy eventually slowed down the pace and suffered a little more than necessary in the last quarter of the game as the Netherlands collected a flurry of corner kicks and did come to threaten Donnarumma in a couple of occasions with Luuk De Jong (who had replaced Nathan Aké) and Memphis Depay.
Still, it was the Azzurri to come closer to score again as Moise Kean wasted a golden chance to make it two, shooting the ball out of the target after taking advantage of a defensive blunder on the part of the Dutch.
One goal to the Netherlands was enough, however, for Italy to forget their staggering debut and take a reassuring lead in the Nations League Group 1 as they hope to receive some good news from the sick room concerning Nicoló Zaniolo.
MATCH REPORT
September 7, 2020 – Nations League 2020-2021 Group A
NETHERLANDS-ITALY 0-1
SCORERS: 45’+1 Barella
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NETHERLANDS (4-2-3-1): Cillessen; Hateboer (69′ Dumfries), Veltman, Van Dijk, Aké (80′ L. De Jong); De Roon, F. De Jong; Wijnaldum, Van den Beek (56′ Bergwijn), Promes; Depay (Krul, Bizot, Schuurs, Tete, Wijndal, Strootman, Fer, Ihattaren, Babel) Coach: Lodeweges |
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ITALY (4-3-3): Donnarumma; D’Ambrosio, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Locatelli (80′ Cristante); Zaniolo (41′ Kean), Immobile, Insigne (89′ Chiesa) (Sirigu, Cragno, Florenzi, Acerbi, Lo. Pellegrini, G. Mancini, Di Lorenzo, Caputo, Belotti) Coach: R. Mancini |
REFEREE: Brych (Germany)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Veltman (N), D’Ambrosio, Chiellini (I); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 5′