Italy bounced back from Friday’s thrilling Nations League Group A2 opener with a 3-1 win over France.Bradley Barcola found the net in the opening minutes when he caught Giovanni Di Lorenzo napping and raced into the area before crossing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.Italy leveled on the Federico Dimarco headed home a fine reverse from Sandro Tonali and the sides level after the opening half.
France were rocked again five minutes later after Davide Frattesi put Italy ahead and Giacomo Raspadori gave the visitors the breathing space they needed in the 74th minute to silence the Parc des Prince crowd. “I was afraid that Tonali wouldn’t be able to play the 90 minutes, but in the end he scored two good goals.We met again a very strong player,” said Italy manager Luciano Spalletti.
In Friday’s other game in Group A2; Kevin De Bruyne scored twice to lead the hosts to a 3-1 win in Hungary behind closed doors due to security concerns.
The Belgium captain gave his side the lead after 21 minutes, but Israel equalized nine minutes before half-time and defended the half at Debrecen’s Nagyradi Stadium.Youri Tielemans restored Belgium’s lead immediately after half-time and De Bruyne put away a penalty shortly after their advantage.Belgium can afford to waste another penalty as they lead the points table alongside Italy.
In group B3,Erling Haaland was unable to recreate his domestic goalscoring form as he shared 19 goals in Norway’s goalless draw with Kazakhstan.Benjamin Sesko’s first-half penalty was canceled out after 12 minutes when Konrad Laimer pounced in the box and finished from close range. In group C2, Ioannis Pittas leads Cyprus to a 1-0 win over Lithuania, Dennis Mann, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus scored a convincing 3-0 win over Romania in Group B4.Orri Óskarsson and Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson scored in each half for Iceland in a 2-0 win over Montenegro.
