Italy's Under-21s were reduced to 10 men and had to come from behind, but ran out comfortable winners in their European qualifier against Liechtenstein.
Ciro Ferrara's men got off to a bad start in their second 2013 European Under-21 Championship qualifying group match played on Thursday evening.
Italy's Under-21s were reduced to 10 men and had to come from behind, but ran out comfortable winners in their European qualifier against Liechtenstein.
Ciro Ferrara's men got off to a bad start in their second 2013 European Under-21 Championship qualifying group match played on Thursday evening.
First falling behind to Fabian Eberle's eighth-minute goal, they then saw Fabio Borini dismissed on 17 for a second bookable offence.
However, an equaliser from Vicenza's Fausto Rossi was quickly followed by a double-strike from Atalanta” data-scaytid=”10″>Atalanta forward Manolo Gabbiadini to put the visitors in firm control by the break.
The second half saw the away side then fully assert themselves, with Alessandro Florenzi scoring five minutes after the restart and closely followed by Gabbiadini's completion of his hat-trick.
Niklas Kieber pulled another back for Liechtenstein before Lorenzo Insigne added two more in the closing 15 minutes for the Italians to record a heavy 7-2 scoreline.
The result leaves Italy with a maximum of six points from two games played in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 7. The Azzurrini sit in second place in the group behind Turkey, who they face on Tuesday evening in Rieti, Lazio” data-scaytid=”22″>Lazio.