Double delight for Di Lorenzo as Italy crush Israel

Italy captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo led his side to a 4-1 thumping of Israel in the UEFA Nations League clash, scoring twice, with Mateo Retegui and Davide Frattesi also on target.

The Azurri bow top the Nations League group, having recorded three wins from games.

They went into the clash, losing their perfect record with a 2-2 draw against Belgium when down to 10 men.

The first chance of the match came through every one of the visitors as Oscar Gloukh drilled his inches wide from the edge of the area after Fagioli’s error in midfield. 

Glazer ran off his line to stop Mateo Retegui from scoring one-on-one from a Giovanni Di Lorenzo pass.

Riccardo Calafiori, who played an inverted full-back role at the by-line moments,  pulled across for Raspadori, but it was cleared almost off the line.

Italy continued to look for the opener with another beautiful team move with one-touch football from Alessandro Bastoni and Raspadori, resulting in the Retegui strike flapped over by Glazer.

Israeli goalie also stopped  Sandro Tonali’s finish from six yards after a Raspadori through ball.

Dimarco controlled a long Raspadori pass before releasing it across the face of the goal, but Davide Frattesi and Retegui failed to make the most of it as they slid in.

Italy were awarded a penalty towards the end of the first half. Tonali got to a poor clearance just inside the area before Dor Peretz. 

Retegui stepped up to send Glazer down with a stuttering run-up before dinking it into the top corner for his second consecutive Italy game on target.

Italy doubled their lead after the break after winning a free kick from a hand ball. When Raspadori floated the ball into the box for his Napoli teammate Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s header into the ground from six yards, marking his first goal since November 2022.

However, Israel maintained their record of scoring in each game again in the Nations League, as Mohammad Abu Fani curled in directly from the corner flag. Vicario’s complaint of obstruction by Matan Baltaxa was turned down as the referee, and VAR judged it fair pressure.

Italy almost restored the two-goal cushion immediately, but Glazer flew for a sensational fingertip save on the Alessandro Bastoni looping header from Dimarco’s corner.

They eventually restored their two-goal lead when Calafiori spread the play down the left for Dimarco, who rolled across for Inter teammate Frattesi to fire in the first time.

Daniel Maldini wrote his name in the book of history when he was introduced. This is the first time one family represented Italy with three generations, following in the footsteps of father Paolo – in the stands – and grandfather Cesare.

The 23-year-old made an immediate impact as he sent Destiny Udogie down the left, pulling back for Di Lorenzo to complete his first Italy brace.