| (Photo: Getty Images) |
Luciano Spalletti’s debut did not go well on Saturday, with the Italians only playing to a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia – and Barella’s side improved on Tuesday night in Milan, even against Ukraine.
The home team took the lead very quickly already in the 12th minute, and this required a huge defensive error. The Ukrainians’ right-back lost the ball in his team’s penalty area, and Mattia Zacajny pounced on it. The wing rolled me over David Fratesi, Who shot a flat ball into the goal from about ten meters after a challenge.
More than a quarter of an hour later, the Inter player was the protagonist again: Nicolo Zaniolo cut in from the right wing, his shot bounced off Fratesi to a Ukrainian defender, and from there it returned to the midfielder. Fratesi So he stayed practically one on one and did not miss the jump.
At the beginning of the first half Andrey Yarmolenko He improved from a lucky rebound, but after the turn, the Ukrainian national team could not equalize, so Luciano Spalletti was able to celebrate his first victory as captain of the Italian national team at San Siro.
In the other match in the group, Malta did not pose an obstacle against North Macedonia, as the visitors scored in the 5th and 41st minutes, and in the second half it was enough for them to maintain their two-goal lead. Interestingly, former Ogbest midfielder Enesz Bardi excelled in the preparation of both goals.
European Championship qualifiers
Round 6
Group C
Italy – Ukraine 2-1 (Fratese 12, 29, or Jarmolenko 41.)
Malta – North Macedonia 0-2 (Diamond 5., Manif 41.)
| 1. England | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | 16-2 | +14 | 13 |
| 2. Italy | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6-4 | +2 | 7 |
| 3. Ukraine | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6-7 | -1 | 7 |
| 4. North Macedonia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7-12 | -5 | 7 |
| 5. Malta | 5 | – | – | 5 | 1-11 | -10 | 0 |
