Roberto Mancini thought the first half of Italy’s 2-0 win over Northern Ireland was ‘perfect, but we must do better’ than the second half.
The job was done through Domenico Berardi and Ciro Immobile goals before half-time in Parma, the opening 2022 World Cup qualifier.
“After five months, the first half was excellent and we should’ve scored more goals,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
Roberto Mancini thought the first half of Italy’s 2-0 win over Northern Ireland was ‘perfect, but we must do better’ than the second half.
The job was done through Domenico Berardi and Ciro Immobile goals before half-time in Parma, the opening 2022 World Cup qualifier.
“After five months, the first half was excellent and we should’ve scored more goals,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
“We’ll have to review the second half with the team, because we must do better than that.
“The first half was perfect, pretty much, we should’ve had more goals and were moving the ball quickly.
“Perhaps we started to take a few too many touches after the break and the ball moved slowly, but that can happen after five months of not seeing each other.”
With Jorginho out injured, Manuel Locatelli of Sassuolo stepped into midfield.
“Immobile and Locatelli did really well, we could’ve won by a bigger margin in the first half, but we knew Northern Ireland were a physical side who could cause us problems. We made too many mistakes.
“The ball can go long at times, especially when we’re pressed like that and the opposition are defending in numbers.”
Immobile broke his Italy goal drought with a well-taken counter-attack, but also missed some other chances.
“It’s fundamental for a striker to score goals. We’re happy for him and hope all the forwards get goals.”