Spain book place in Nations League final with last-minute goal over Italy

It was a hard-fought encounter between these two European institutions. Going into it, Spain had the better record in their head-to-heads with Italy, counting 13 wins to Italy's 10. They showed their metal again, withstanding a deadlock against a stubborn Italian side, who finally gave them their last-gasp winning goal.

Spain took an early lead after poor defending from Italy, which saw captain Leonardo Bonucci get his pocket picked just outside the area by Yeremy Pino. The '15' got through on goal, and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving Spain the lead inside 2 minutes.

The drama continued as not even 10 minutes later, Italy were awarded a penalty after Robin Le Normand's handball inside the box blocked a shot by Nicolo Zaniolo. Lazio's Ciro Immobile brought his team level from the spot, sending Simon the wrong way and hammering the ball into the bottom corner.

Italy had the better of the possession and Jorginho put a promising ball deep to Davide Frattesi at 23'. Frattesi fired it into the net, but the goal was disallowed by VAR as Frattesi timed his run just off, and was caught offside. The deadlock held until halftime and both sides left with a yellow each.

Spain came out in the second half pushing hard for another goal, but Italy held firm this time. Both sides made all five substitutions in regular time, and the stalemate continued for the whole second half. Italy's best chance came from a first-touch shot from Zaniolo who met a cross from Di Lorenzo and fired a volley which was stopped by a clutch save from Unai Simon.

It looked like the match would be destined for extra time, as neither side looked like they could make headway, but with just three minutes to go, Spain made the breakthrough. A cross from Jordi Alba was cleared poorly and found itself at the feet of Man City's UCL hero, Rodri, who took the shot from 25 yards out.

It bounced around the box and was finally tapped in by Joselu Mato, Spain's 5th and final sub, who poked it over the falling Donnarumma just on the goal line. Spain held on and will meet Croatia in the final on Sunday thanks to very early and very late goals.

 

June 15, 2023