A stunning strike on Friday by Lorenzo Insigne fired Italy into the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro 2020 as a 2-1 win over Belgium sent them through to a meeting with Spain.
Nicolo Barella struck the opening goal of the quarter-final in Munich before Insigne curled in Italy’s second in an action-packed first half.
Belgium grabbed a lifeline just before the break when Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty, but Roberto Martinez’s side ultimately fell short against a disciplined Italy defense.
Photo: Reuters
While Italy face Spain at Wembley on Tuesday, defeat means more Euro quarter-final heartbreak for Belgium, who exited at the same stage in 2016 after defeat by Wales.
Belgium sorely missed their captain, Eden Hazard, ruled out by a hamstring injury, even as Kevin de Bruyne won his race to shake off an ankle injury.
The Manchester City playmaker showed why the medical staff worked around the clock to get him fit by regularly causing Italy problems, but Lukaku twice was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Italy had the ball in the net on 13 minutes when Leonardi Bonucci chested the ball past Thibaut Courtois from a free-kick, but the goal was disallowed by the video referee for an offside against captain Giorgio Chiellini.
Marco Verratti and Youri Tielemans both earned yellow cards for midfield tussles involving the pair.
Verratti was booked for holding Tielemans in a tackle, while the Belgian picked up a yellow card moments later for clattering the Italian.
Italy broke the deadlock with 31 minutes played.
When Belgium failed to clear, Verratti played the ball into Barella, who stayed on his feet, squeezed past two defenders and drilled across Courtois.
A piece of brilliance on 44 minutes saw Insigne double the Italy lead when he was allowed to dribble to the edge of the area and then curl his shot inside the post.
However, Belgium got back into the game when a rush of blood saw Giovanni di Lorenzo concede a penalty for using his elbow to brush off Jeremy Doku, filling in for Hazard.
Lukaku stepped up and rifled in the resulting spot-kick to halve the deficit.
With an hour gone, Belgium had the best chance of the second half, coming agonizingly close to an equalizer when De Bruyne’s cross led to Lukaku having his shot blocked by the thigh of Leonardo Spinazzola.
However, the win was soured by an injury to Italy leftback Leonardo Spinazzola, who was taken off on a stretcher in the second half and is expected to be out of the tournament.
Italian media reports said that Spinazzola had a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon injury, which would likely sideline him for months.
“He didn’t deserve that, he has been one of the best players of this tournament and he will still be even if he can’t play in the next games,” Italy manager Roberto Mancini told a news conference. “We are very, very sad with what has happened, it seems quite a serious one.”
Spinazzola, 28, was pictured in tears on the stretcher as he left the field to be replaced by Emerson Palmieri
Additional reporting by Reuters
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