Domenico Berardi came on as a substitute and had a great impact, but too many Italy players failed to impress against Switzerland. Check out Football Italia’s player ratings from the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Donnarumma 6 (out of 10) – Applauded by the Olimpico crowd for the whole game. He nearly messed it up with a risky pass to Bonucci that could lead to Switzerland’s goal in the stoppages.
Di Lorenzo 6.5 – Very exposed on the right in the first half, but scored the equaliser with a header. Played a more defensive game in the second half.
Bonucci 6 – It was rare to find him out of position. Made a couple of key interceptions, but his long passes were often too inaccurate.
Acerbi 5.5 – Struggled to cope with Noah Okafor’s pace. Both he and Di Lorenzo are at fault for the Swiss’ opener.
Emerson 5.5 – Often pushed forward down the left flank but somehow didn’t create many chances, nor did he deliver crosses for Italy’s strikers. (Calabria N/A)
Barella 5 – Wasn’t fully fit and you could tell. Decent work rate, but misplaced many passes and wasted the potential equaliser from point-blank range (Cristante N/A)
Jorginho 5 – Sometimes you don’t notice it, but you know he is always there. Quite incredibly, he missed the third penalty kick in a row with the Azzurri, the second one against Switzerland.
Italy 1-1 Switzerland | Di Lorenzo saves a point, when Jorginho fails from the spot
Locatelli 6 – Had scored two goals against the Swiss just five months ago. Tonight, he provided quality and quantity in the middle of the park, but didn’t have many chances to score. (Tonali 6 – The boy from Lodi put in his personality running into open spaces to create one vs. one situation close to Switzerland’s penalty box.)
Chiesa 5.5 – Not the same sort of player we admired during the Euros and some Juventus games this season. He had a couple of good opportunities from the edge of the box. Was booked in the first half for a tactical foul on Ricardo Rodriguez.
Belotti 5 – With Ciro Immobile out of action with a calf injury, Mancini picked the Torino striker who fought hard, but didn’t get much service. (Berardi 6.5 – Had a great impact on the game and earned a late penalty kick. It wasn’t enough to win the game.)
Insigne 5 – Wasn’t too effective on the left. Roberto Mancini used him as a false nine when he introduced Domenico Berardi for Andrea Belotti after one hour. (Raspadori N/A)
Coach: Roberto Mancini 6 – Didn’t change his tactics. Italy took a while to get into the game and conceded an early opener. They dominated the second half without creating much. Mancio tried to deploy Insigne as a false nine for 20 minutes, but it didn’t work out.
Italy have far better penalty takers than Jorginho. How many does he have to miss before Mancini relieves him of this duty? We should, at this point, be 6 points clear of Switzerland
Playoff game here we come!
Dissappointing to say the least. I posted a comment a few days ago saying with English officials we would have to beat them as well but to fair they gave the goal and they gave the penalty- no excuses and agree with Donato T we are headed for the play offs- not good.
The Swiss will bang a few goals in against Bulgaria and overturn our goal adavantage we will limp to a draw in Northern Ireland- at best
I knew I should have bought more toilet roll 😒 😰
italy strikers need to kick the all less harshly so it will dip the crossbar and beams. The only players that can hit it hard and actually score snappers are the likes of baleotelli despite his manboy manner he is lethal, pelle, bonucci i’ve seen do this but look at Chiesa now blow by blow of misses. Chiesa! Go to an esoteric shop and get some Uncrossing powder, please! OR at the very least do this one a few nights before the game, get some green limes and squirt them in a bucket with lukewarm water, you take a shower and then empty the bucket over yourself, it offsets any metaphysics done against you, and kick the ball less hard, and stay off the fetuccini at the resto ancello bragged about sneaking into with his teammates behind the coaches back, do the lime thing lassies and you will see your luck improve. DO SOMETHING!