The Italian journalists were mostly satisfied with the result and the team's actions, but noted that the tension created by Ukraine in the second half could lead to problems for the Italians in future matches with other national teams and affect the results of the qualifiers.
Gazzetta dello Sport
The Gazzetta dello Sport journalist notes Dovbyk's good performance, who managed to find chances and "strain" the Italian defenders, and the Ukrainians' attacking intensity after the second goal. This victory gave the Italians some peace of mind.
- Luciano Spalletti's first victory on the Italian national team's coaching bench. The Azzurri beat Ukraine at the San Siro and (with a game in hand) jumped to second place in the group. Qualification for Euro 2024 is yet to be won, but after the draw in Skopje, the night in Meazza gave Donnarumma and his teammates a little more peace of mind for the future.
Davide Frattesi deserves the most credit for scoring twice in the first half in a span of 17 minutes to put the team 2-0 up. The goal, "gifted" to Yarmolenko, made us nervous for the rest of the match, but the success was deserved for our attacking performance and expressive play. However, there is still a feeling that we created too many chances and converted too few. An aspect worth working on with a view to October, when we will play at home against the leaders, England.
Spalletti changed five players from the side that held Macedonia to a 1-1 draw: the biggest change was in attack, with centre-forward Raspadori sending Immobile, captain in Skopje, to the bench, but Scalvini, Locatelli, Fratesi and Zagnolo were also new (replacing Mancini, Cristante, Tonali and Politano). Ukraine, after the draw with England, made three substitutions, the most high-profile of which was that of Chelsea star Mudryk, who went off to make way for Yarmolenko.
The Azzurri set up well for the match and created danger with two well-aimed shots by Di Lorenzo and Raspadori: it was clear that Italy had a fierce desire and knew what to do, so the Ukrainians tried to contain them. They succeeded until the 12th minute, when in a harmless rolling move Sudakov slipped and passed the ball to Zaccagni, assisted by Fratesi and the goal - 1-0.
Our national team lifted a heavy burden from their shoulders, and Spalletti applauded on the bench. With Locatelli in front of the defence, the ball circulation is decent, but above all, the central defenders Barella and Fratesi are constantly coming into play, thanks to changes in the game that make the opponents confused. In the 25th minute, Raspadori missed the target for the second time, and Meazza was desperate to miss the chance, but within seconds the score was doubled: Zagnolo's header was closed by Fratesi, and the Inter midfielder scored the second goal, which was credited after Vara's control.
The double advantage allows Italy to relax, even too much so, as they stop striving for high pressure, rest instead of running back quickly when they don't have the ball (especially Zagnolo) and concede one-metre shots from Ukraine, a dangerous moment with Dovbyk lost by Locatelli. Donnarumma saves the shot, and after a few whistles, when he comes on the pitch and reads out the formation, it's applause for the goalkeeper. Raspadori tried again and this time hit Bushchan's gloves: it looked like a monologue, but instead, on the collective carelessness of our rearguard (misses by Scalvini and Di Lorenzo, a gross mistake by Dimarco), Yarmolenko signed for 2-1 thanks to an unintentional assist from an Inter player from the outside. Thus, Donnarumma's miracle after Dovbyk's close-range shot was in vain. The Azzurri led 2-1 at the break, but the one-goal advantage after dominating (67% of ball possession, 11-5 shots) did not reassure Spalletti.
The second half started without any changes. The attack from deep with Dovbyk as the only forward was still causing difficulties, and Locatelli had to deflect a dangerous shot by Zinchenko. Then Dovbyk scored from a favourable position. The enthusiasm at the San Siro waned, and the Ukrainian fans made themselves felt. The Squirrels missed another sensational moment: this time Zaccagni failed to take advantage of a chance after Dimarco's cross and Zagnolo's excellent pass. It was only a blip because the team was stretched and unable to regroup when the ball was in the opponent's possession.
The coach brought on Gnoto and Biragi instead of Zaccagni and Dimarco: tactically, nothing changed, but the goal was to give fresh energy to the team to attack with more confidence from the outside. On a psychological level, this move paid off, and as soon as play resumed, after a slashing pass from the back from Zagnolo, Raspadori made a great save from Bushchan. The Napoli forward was moving well, but was not very decisive in front of goal. Nevertheless, Italy again controlled the situation and repeatedly tried to score: Scalvini (header), Zagnolo (at the goalkeeper) and Locatelli (cross). Spalletti threw Orsolini and Retegui into the fray instead of Zagnolo and Raspadori; Rebrov, who had already released Mudryk, brought on Buyalsky and Vanat to give more weight to the attack. Cristante replaced the exhausted Barella, and Meazza held its breath when Konoplya scored with a header after Mudryk's cross.
"The Azzurri closed out the game with some difficulty as Gnonto did not pose a threat and Vanat's shot went just over the top, but after the triple whistle Meazza triumphed. The European champion is a little closer to Euro 2024.
Sportmediaset
The Sportmediaset journalist notes the emotions and nerves of the Italian head coach, even when the team was beating the Ukrainians 2-0.
- Luciano Spalletti's Italian national team made no mistakes at the San Siro and defeated Ukraine 2-1 in a Euro 2024 qualifier. In Milan, cheered on by 50,000 spectators at the Meazza, the Azzurri allowed themselves to be carried away by Super Fratesi, who scored a double in the first half, first taking advantage of a mistake by Sudakov (12') and then skilfully playing the rebound after a shot by Zagnolo (29'). In the 41st minute, Yarmolenko's goal with an assist from Dimarco reopened the intrigue in the match and led the Azzurri to a second half of suffering, albeit with several missed chances thanks to Bushchan and a cross that stopped Locatelli.
A victory, the first in the Spalletti era, that revived the morale of a team that needed a win and a smile to keep believing in direct qualification for the continental championship. Now, the Squadra are in second place, with the same number of points as Ukraine and the advantage of a direct clash.
Luciano Spalletti's Italian national team needed a win, and a victory at the San Siro in a game that, if not, could mean a mandatory exit from the Euro 2024 play-offs. But cheered on by more than 50,000 spectators at the San Siro, the Azzurri made no mistake and returned with a smile, knowing that their fate was in their own hands, with four more matches to go, including another direct clash with Ukraine with the advantage of a positive result on their home soil.
Compared to the draw in Skopje against Macedonia, Spalletti made five changes, between forced choices (Mancini, Tonali and Politano were injured) and other technical ones for the coach, who brought on Scalvini, Locatelli, Fratesi, Raspadori and Zagnolo from the first half. Rebrov left the talented Mudryk on the bench, bringing forward Yarmolenko with Sudakov and Dovbyk.
Scuadra tried to be aggressive from the start, with Spalletti's men looking to find a way to the goal with the help of the coach's trusted men, Di Lorenzo and Raspadori, who, however, lacked determination and accuracy in their shots that went over the top. Fratesi, however, did not lack composure, and in the 12th minute he put Italy ahead: taking advantage of Sudakov's mistake, Zaccagni passed to the Inter midfielder on the left, who coolly beat Bushchan. And on the left, from Dimarco's feet, there were tasty balls for the Azzurri attack: Fratesi passed well in the 25th minute, but Raspadori still missed the goal. And if fortune has not been on Italy's side so many times, then in the 29th minute the Azzurri got a chance to take revenge. Zagnolo's shot was blocked by Fratesi, the ball was caught between Raspadori and the Ukrainian defender, and the ball returned to the midfielder, who scored his personal double with a belated explosion of joy, and VAR recorded a 2-0 score in favour of the Azzurri.
Ukraine did not stop and opened the scoring again in the 41st minute, taking advantage of the Azzurri losing the ball, and Yarmolenko took the opportunity with a short pass from Donnarumma and an assist from Dimarco to put his team ahead. Azzurri's loss of concentration did not sit well with Luciano Spalletti, who at the end of the first half became concerned for his team and demanded that they pay more attention to the ball loss phase and the attacking phase.
The second half started in the same way as the first: Italy acted more aggressively, while Ukraine waited, and Rebrov's men tried to use counterattacks to hurt the Scudra. In the 54th minute, it was Zaccagni who had a chance to make it 3-1 when the ball from Dimarco on the left fell to the feet of Zagnolo, who sent the ball towards the Lazio player, who was unlucky with his shot. Spalletti's men came close to scoring again in the 59th minute when Bushchan had to turn Raspadori's shot for a corner. The Azzurri played well, looking for the right moments to hurt the Ukrainians, and in the 69th minute several chances passed between the legs of Raspadori, Barella and Locatelli, with the Juve midfielder's effort only stopped by the crossbar. Italy also remained tidy and focused in defence, with Mudryk trying to create problems for Di Lorenzo on the left, but the Ukrainian failed to hit the target.
And despite the concentration, Spalletti kept scolding his players in the final minutes to keep their concentration high to avoid being bullied. But after 3 minutes of stoppage time, played on the edge of tension, with Ukraine on the attack, it was the Azzurri who rejoiced as they smiled again and claimed their first win of the Spalletti era.
Tuttosport
"Italy reacts: super Frattesi and Spalletti smiles. Ukraine is defeated" - this is the summary of the Tuttosport journalist.
- Italy beat Ukraine 2-1 at the San Siro in the sixth round of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. It was the first victory on the Azzurri's bench for Luciano Spalletti, who, after the draw in Macedonia, believes that this is a fundamental success on the way to the next European Championship. It was Frattesi who opened the match and then doubled the score for the Italian national team in the first half hour of the game. Yarmolenko reduced the deficit before the break, but in the second half, Spalletti's team managed to keep the result and win.
With these three points, Italy shares second place in Group C with Ukraine (along with Macedonia, which won against Malta) with seven points. However, the Azzurri have one less match than the Ukrainians and Macedonians, making the path to Euro 2024 less steep.
Spalletti opts for an attacking trident of Zagnolo, Raspadori and Zaccagni. With Immobile on the bench, Donnarumma becomes the captain chosen by the Azzurri coach. Italy started the match with a rocket start, immediately forcing Ukraine to defend and managing to create several scoring chances to soak up the result. In the 12th minute, Spalletti's team took the lead thanks to Fratesi, who beat Ukrainian goalkeeper Bushchan after a pass from Zaccagni. At the half-hour mark, the Inter player found his way to the goal again and brought Italy a double: Zagnolo's shot, Fratesi-Raspadori's rebound and the Nerazzurri midfielder's shot into the goal. The goal, initially cancelled due to offside, was later scored by Varu. However, at the end of the first half, Ukraine cut the deficit in half: Donnarumma deflected the ball after Dovbyk's shot, Dimarko failed to clear the ball, and Yarmolenko scored into an almost empty net.
The second half began without change. After a dangerous counter-attack by Ukraine, Italy regained control of the game and began to create scoring chances again. In the 54th minute, Zaccagni had a good opportunity but failed to hit the goal. Four minutes later, Spalletti made his first changes: Biragi and Gnonto came on for Dimarco and Zaccagni. The Scudri were close to scoring the third goal: first, Raspadori's diagonal shot was deflected by Bushchan, and then Locatelli hit the crossbar in a frantic scramble in the Ukrainian penalty area. In the 72nd minute, the Azzurri made two more substitutions: Retegui and Orsolini took the places of Raspadori and Zagnolo. Then there was a place for Cristante, who replaced Barella. In the final, Ukraine tried to rush forward in search of an equaliser, but Italy managed to defend their precious success to the end. Fundamental for direct qualification for Euro 2024.
Dmytro MALYANOV
