Italy needed an extension and for Austria to break down to get their ticket to the quarterfinals of the Eurocup. Mancini’s men won 2-1 thanks to goals from Chiesa and Pessina in an irregular match in which they had sections in which that team was not seen, who marveled in the group stage. Of course, Azzurra’s unbeaten record is over after Kalajdzic’s goal , which ends a streak of 11 games without conceding a goal.
Wembley hosted this round of 16 match between Italy and Austria an hour after Denmark beat Gareth Bale’s Wales. Now, in England , it was the turn of the Azzurra, one of the great novelties in this European Championship that has become one of the favorites after winning its three games in the group stage. Marco Verratti was a starter in the team coached by Roberto Mancini and in Austria David Alaba also started.
Austria came out well on the field, intense like the Italians when their anthem sounds. Barella suffered that intensity in the first minute with a hard tackle from the wayward Arnautovic , who ended up with a yellow card. Franco Foda’s men were planning a very serious game, although Azzurra soon began to become the owner and mistress of the ball.
Italy began to approach the Austrian goal and the first to try his luck was a Spinazzola who, almost without an angle, in little trouble got the rival goalkeeper. Where Bachmann did have to intervene was a placed shot from Insigne and then respond in the form of a foot stop to a whiplash from Barella . And it is that Roberto Mancini’s men were entering on his left wing as they wanted.
Austria held the Italian control well, gave few spaces in the last meters and played with 10 players behind the ball, leaving only Arnautovic as a hook. In this way they threw two or three cons that could not culminate, but were on the verge of taking against the goal of the Eurocopa. Immobile , from the front of the area and back, when nobody expected it, sent a direct shot to the squad that could have gone directly to the Puskas Prize.
Austria gets emboldened
The second half started with the 0-0 score that reached the interval and the Austrians were able to get ahead with a free kick from the edge of the area by Jorginho . Alaba took responsibility but his shot was lost over the crossbar of the goal defended by Donnarumma . Austria had fulfilled its intention of reaching the second act alive and as a result of this, a team that dared more in attack was seen while Italy crashed against its wall always in the last meters.
Sabitzer was about to surprise Italy if it did not happen because Bonucci slightly deflected the ball to a corner. As a result of that corner kick, Donnarumma had to appear to stop Arnautovic’s tight shot. You could see the Austrian goal coming … and it came, but offside. Alaba hunted a cross and gave it to an Arnautovic who was slightly ahead, so after reviewing the action in the VAR the referee indicated an illegal position.
It seemed that Italy reacted in the next five minutes, but it was a mirage. Austria was already playing without complexes and there was no trace of the best version of the Azzurra. In the last 10 minutes the game broke completely and entered a phase of twists and turns in which the Italians, not even with the entries of Chiesa and Belotti , were able to prevent the match from going into extra time, the first in this Euro 2020.
An extension with goals
Austria came to overtime with only one change and it seemed to affect the physical wear and tear because they locked themselves up again. The first occasion of the extension was a cross shot from Chiesa that was stopped by the goalkeeper. A minute later the story was very different because the Italian winger caught the ball alone, where Alaba should have been, cut it and sent it to the back of the net.
The Austrian team dared again, but it was too late. Every ball they hung was repelled by Bonucci or Acerbi or intercepted by Donnarumma. His counterpart in the other goal avoided Italy’s second goal with a free kick from Insigne that went straight to the squad. On the next play he couldn’t do anything other than get the ball out of the back of his net after Pessina , who already scored a goal against Wales, took a shot from point-blank range and made it 2-0 when the end of the first was about to come. half of the extension.
In the second half the Austrians had nothing to lose and pushed all in. Donnarumma stretched first to make one of the tournament stops, but shortly thereafter, with six minutes remaining, he was unable to stop a Kalajdzic header that slammed into the near post. Austria put emotion into the final stretch of extra time, but neither in what was left nor in the added minute were they able to equalize the contest and order everything to be decided on penalties.
