Spain defeated Italy 1-0 via to an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori, sending them into the Euro 2024 last 16 as Group B victors.
After thrashing Croatia 3-0 in their opening match, Spain looked impressive once more. In Gelsenkirchen, they should have won by a larger margin if not for a combination of bad finishing and outstanding saves from Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
They took the lead right away, when Donnarumma was brought in after only two minutes and brilliantly deflected Pedri’s header from close range.
After frightening Italy’s right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and going close to scoring with a header from inside the six-yard box, Nico Williams was denied twice more by Donnarumma, once from Alvaro Morata and once from a long-range shot by Fabian Ruiz.
After the break, Spain continued where they left off, with Pedri missing a clear opportunity minutes later. However, Italy had to fight hard for their goal when defender Calafiori diverted Williams’ low cross into his own net.
Calafiori came close to scoring again when Andrea Cambiaso blocked his teammate’s errant header at a corner off the goal line. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Lamine Yamal and Williams both kept showing off their skills, with Yamal missing the top left corner with a shot and Williams hitting the crossbar with a lovely curler.
Italy was merely outmatched, with only one shot on goal. However, Donnarumma managed to keep them in the game until the very end, thanks to a last-minute stop from substitute Ayoze Perez in a one-on-one situation.
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