France beat Italy 1-3 at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan thanks to Rabiot’s brace in the second and 65th minutes and Vicario’s own goal in the 33rd. By the 35th Cambiaso had closed the gap. The Azzurri and Bleus are joint first on 13 points in Group 2 of League A of the Nations League, ahead of Belgium on 5 and Israel on 2.
The match
France took the lead after just two minutes. Corner kick from the left taken directly by Digne towards the center of the area, Rabiot jumps and heads it into the net on the right. Dimarco tries to stop the ball at the last minute but fails.
At the 33rd free kick for France taken by Digne, the ball goes over the barrier, hits the crossbar, bounces off Vicario’s back and enters the goal: it is the French team’s second.
Another two minutes pass and Italy moves forward with Dimarco and Tonali interacting on the left. Dimarco gets to the back line and sends a cross to the centre, Frattesi doesn’t reach it but Cambiaso shoots from the front and pierces Maignan: the Azzurri close the gap.
In the second half, at the 65th free kick for France from the sideline at the height of the area, Digne brushes a ball towards the head of Rabiot who heads it into the top corner to score.
Spalletti’s comment
“We weren’t good today because we tried to force the game, spending a lot of energy.” The Italy coach, Luciano Spalletti, admits it after the 1-3 defeat against France.
The Italian coach, however, adds: “If you go in and immediately score a goal from a set piece it becomes difficult. At 2-1 it seemed like there was more balance and that we could manage the game, but then they scored the third goal and closed in and it became difficult to find space.”
The coach underlines: “What created us the most problems was the lack of clean play on the part of the midfielders, which allowed them to close down. We needed more quality in the ball possession phase, we weren’t good at finding spaces.”
Spalletti, however, sees the glass half full: “The balance is certainly positive, we have seen the commitment of the boys and some good things. This defeat creates some problems, but it must not take away the certainties we have acquired.”
Italy-France, the precedents
Italy and France have faced each other on 41 occasions in history, including Sunday evening’s match. The balance leans in favor of the Italian national team, which boasts 19 victories against the 12 of its opponents (10, however, draws). Italy scored 86 goals against France and conceded 60. The success in the first leg of the Nations League interrupted a negative streak of three consecutive defeats: the Italian national team had not won against Les Bleus since 2008 and he conquered Paris after 69 years.
Belgium
