Italy defended resiliently to protect a narrow 1-0 victory against Belgium in Thursday evening’s Nations League match in Brussels, Luciano Spalletti’s first clean sheet since the 1-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in preparation for EURO 2024 back in June.
Here are the player ratings after a closely-fought affair between Belgium and Italy.
Italy player ratings
Donnarumma 7.5 – Made a handful of big saves in the second half, but never particularly looked like conceding, despite spells of opposition pressure.
Di Lorenzo 7 – Played a big role in providing the opener. Couldn’t quite get the ball in the back of the net when he had a double opportunity after 55 minutes. The missed ‘header’ was a particularly glaring chance.
Buongiorno 6.5 – Tasked with marking his Napoli teammate Romelu Lukaku for large spells, he did a very decent job at keeping the Belgian quiet for most of the game.
Bastoni 7 – His ball carrying ability was really highlighted in the absence of Riccardo Calafiori. He looked very comfortable carrying it out. Decent defensively despite one very brief scare up against Lukaku.
Cambiaso 6 – His versatility and ability to come inside brought a lot out of Di Lorenzo on the right flank, the pair exchanged nicely on a few occasions.
Frattesi 6 – Tested Koen Casteels early on in search of ninth international goal, but Belgium grew into the game after Sandro Tonali’s equaliser, which made life a bit more difficult for Italy’s midfield in general.
Rovella 6.5 – Started his international debut very brightly, but needed to be a touch quicker on and off the ball when Belgium went on top towards the end of the first half.
Tonali 7.5 – Celebrated his 20th cap with his first ever international goal – Popped up in the right place at the right time and didn’t have much to do with the finish as a result. Calm and controlling in the midfield as well.
Dimarco 6 – Did his usual job and provided all of Italy’s creativity down the left flank, but not the most productive of evening’s before he was replaced by Destiny Udogie. (Udogie 5.5)
Barella 6 – Had a world-class touch with the outside of his boot to send Fratessi forwards just before half-time, a pass that felt worthy of a goal in itself. Otherwise, not the busiest evening in his role supporting Mateo Retegui.
Retegui 5 – Could have put the game to bed when one-on-one in the second half – didn’t do too much wrong, it was a top-draw save from Casteels. Otherwise not his busiest night in front of goal.
Belgium
Casteels 6.5; Theate 6.5, Faes 7, Debast 6; Castagne 6.5, De Cuyper 5, Engels 6, Onana 5.5, Trossard 6; Openda 5, Lukaku 6.
UNL | Belgium 0-1 Italy: Tonali’s first goal books quarter final
Retegui and Barella v.disappointing. Both seemed to lack composure in critical moments. All the defenders had very good games. Not sure why it took so long to take Rovella off. positionally very suspect out of possession.
Kean proved he’s ok for small clubs.