Italy booked their place in the Quarterfinals of the European Championships with a 2-1 win over Austria.
Goals from Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina in extra time helped the Azzurri secure their place into the last eight.
Here at Anytime Football, we look at the major talking points from tonight’s round of 16 clash.
Not a day for Italy but Mancini’s men managed their game well
Italy had few good chances, and One of Ciro Immobile long-ranger smacked the post. But it was not a day for Italy. They did not have things moving smoothly during the match. Instead Austria scored a goal at 64th minute. The goal was eventually ruled out beacuse of off-side.
It was discplined approach by Roberto Mancini and their bench-strength, that made them move through. As the regular time approached Italy made four substitutions against one by Austria.
The substitutes Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina struck during first half of Extra-time when Austria had little tired legs. Though they came back with renewed vigour in the second half of extra-time, but it was little too late.
Austrian defence was praiseworthy
The Austrians came into this game as the underdogs and few would have expected them to take Italy into extra time.
However, they were solid at the back and the likes of Aleksandar Dragovic, Martin Hinteregger and David Alaba produced outstanding displays to deny the Italians during regular time.
Alaba in particular produced a last man tackle to keep his side in the game and the newly signed Real Madrid player will be disappointed to have ended up on the losing side.
Marco Verratti needs to be a starter for Italy from now on
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder missed the first two games for Italy but he was outstanding in the final group game.
Roberto Mancini decided to stick with him for tonight’s round of 16 clash and the 28-year-old did not disappoint.
He has managed to create nine chances in his two games so far and Verratti’s creativity will be the key to breaking down well-organized defences in the latter rounds of the competition.
Furthermore, he is an excellent passer who rarely loses possession. He helped his side control the play and tire the opposition out throughout the 67 minutes he stayed on the pitch.
Mancini’s men writing history
After today’s win over Austria, Italy are now unbeaten in 31 matches.
Vittorio Pozzo managed to guide the Italians to an unbeaten run of 30 games between 1935 and 1939. They managed to win the World Cup during that period and Mancini will be hoping for European glory this summer.
Italy’s outstanding run of form will mean nothing if they fail to win the trophy this summer.
