Belgium bounced back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with 10-man Italy in Rome on Thursday to boost their hopes of reaching the Nations League quarter-finals.
Maxim De Cuyper and Leandro Trossard got the goals as Belgium, in third place, pulled to within three points of Group A2 leaders Italy who lost midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini to a straight red card seven minutes before half-time.
“Sometimes there are matches which aren’t decided by what the players put out on the pitch,” said Italy coach Luciano Spalletti to RAI.
“We didn’t concede many chances in front of (Gianluigi) Donnarumma because we didn’t struggle that much. We were punished at set pieces where they were also a bit lucky.”
Italy were deservedly two ahead when Pellegrini was sent off for a dangerous foul on Arthur Theate, an offence which led directly to De Cuyper halving the deficit in the 42nd minute with a brilliant long-range strike.
Andrea Cambiaso opened the scoring with his first international goal with 61 seconds on the clock and Mateo Retegui tapped in the hosts’ second midway through the first half as vibrant Italy looked to continue their post-Euro 2024 revival.
Instead Belgium, missing injured Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who is trying to regain full fitness with Napoli, took a point.
And Domenico Tedesco’s team were stunned when Alessandro Bastoni’s clumsy challenge on Lois Openda was not punished with a penalty which would have completely shaken up a tight group.
“You can’t look at one incident and then judge the referee. It wasn’t an easy match to officiate,” said Tedesco to RAI.
“We can’t really complain because the red card changed the match for us… It was a sending off but it undoubtedly helped us.”
Belgium host second-placed France on Monday knowing a win will put them above Les Bleus and into one of the two places which ensure a spot in the last eight.
Italy meanwhile face Israel in Udine and are heavy favourites to maintain top spot in the group after playing some excellent football while still with 11 men on the pitch.
Spalletti’s Azzurri also showed great spirit to not collapse after Trossard poked home Wout Faes’ knockdown to level the scores with nearly half an hour remaining.
Both their goals came at the end of fine passing moves with wing-backs Federico Dimarco and Cambiaso at the heart of the play for a team who look revitalised after a humiliating title defence at the most recent European Championship.
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