In the Euro qualifiers, Italy easily took over Malta this Saturday evening in Bari (4-0).
Before going to England for a big shock and a repeat of the final of the last Euro, Italy played a match this Saturday against the bottom of its group, Malta. Unbalanced on paper, the meeting was also unbalanced on the field.
Berardi dons the hero’s costume
The Azzurri made short work of their modest opponents of the day. Although deprived of Zaniolo and Tonali, pinned for bets, they rolled it out, scoring three goals without conceding a single one. The debates were even sealed from the 1e period.
It was Giacomo Bonaventura who showed the locals the way forward. At the 23e minute, he broke the deadlock with a beautiful curling shot from the right. He was then imitated by Domenico Berardi. The latter doubled the lead just before the break by exploiting a serve from Nicolo Barella.
8 – Domenico #Berardi has scored his first brace with Italy. Since his first goal with the Azzurri (7th October 2020 against Moldova), Berardi has scored the most goals for Italy (8). Braces.#ItaliaMalta pic.twitter.com/y86JdOqVSS
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 14, 2023
Italy ready for England
The Sassuolo striker was not satisfied with just one achievement. In the second half, he did it again. Taking advantage of a miss from the former Parisian Moise Kean, he armed an unstoppable shot at the entrance to the area which could leave no chance to the last opposing rampart. The Nazionale then added to the score at the start of added time through David Frattesi. The interior player added the final touch to this great success with a cross shot from the left, at the conclusion of a great individual action.
4-0 was the final score of this one-sided encounter. With this victory, Italy regains second place in the ranking, which it had temporarily abandoned to Ukraine (victorious over North Macedonia, 2-0). A good omen before the perilous trip to Wembley.
