Italy swept Malta aside with Giacomo Bonaventura’s first ever goal for his country, a Domenico Berardi brace and Davide Frattesi, maintaining second place in the EURO 2024 qualifying group.
The Azzurri were decimated by injuries including Ciro Immobile, Federico Chiesa, Mateo Retegui, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Mattia Zaccagni and Matteo Politano, while Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Zaniolo left after they were placed under investigation for illegal betting. Malta had Steve Borg suspended, with Teddy Teuma, Jodi Jones and Shaun Dimech out of action.
Gianluca Mancini rattled the crossbar within five minutes with a glancing header on the Giacomo Raspadori corner kick.
Moise Kean had penalty appeals, but the first tackle had seemingly got the ball before he went down under the second.
The breakthrough came on 23 minutes when Jack Bonaventura curled a stunning right-foot finish into the far top corner from just inside the penalty area. It was his first ever Italy goal, in his first Azzurri appearance for three years, becoming the oldest player to score his debut goal for the Nazionale at age 34.
The second goal was similarly spectacular, Domenico Berardi gathered on the edge of the box and swept it in off the inside of the far post off his trusty left foot. He had not scored for his country in two years.
Raspadori’s strike was accidentally charged down by Berardi, while Alessandro Bastoni’s header was off target and Henry Bonello punched a Federico Dimarco cross off the head of Berardi.
Bonello got into a mess under pressure and Raspadori was unable to find Kean to tap into an empty net. Gigio Donnarumma had to rush out and control the ball at his feet, also sparking the attacking move for Raspadori down the left, he pulled back for the Kean fresh-air shot, but it made its way through for Berardi to blast in with his weaker right boot.
Alessandro Bastoni thumped the upright only after the offside flag went up, while Tottenham winger Destiny Udogie made his senior Italy debut.
It wasn’t over, as deep into stoppages Frattesi cut inside from the right and surrounded by defenders managed to steer the low finish into the near bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Italy 4-0 Malta
Bonaventura 23 (I), Berardi 45, 64 (I), Frattesi 93 (I)
Player statistic
| Giacomo Bonaventura |  |
23' | ||
| 44' |  |
Paul Mbong | ||
| Domenico Berardi (Assist: Nicolò Barella) |
|
45+1' |
| 53' | |
Yannick Yankam | ||
| 54' | |
Ferdinando Apap | ||
| Domenico Berardi (Assist: Moise Kean) |
|
63' | ||
| Davide Frattesi | |
90+3' |
Match statistic
Starting lineups
Substitutes
Group C
| Rank | Teams | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENG | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| 2 | ITA | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | UKR | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | MKD | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | MLT | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Let’s hope Italy can repeat this result against England