England 1-1 Italy
VAR Controversy Denies England the Victory
Quick thinking from Lingard allowed Jamie Vardy to smash home the opener in the first half, however VAR was used to award Italy a debatable penalty which was subsequently scored by Lorenzo Insigne.
It was a long trip ahead of us down to Wembley. We started in Worksop for some food and drinks before getting on the coach from Worksop station which left at 2pm. Around 3 hours later, we were in the Capital having a pint at the Green Man. Before we knew it we were on our way down to Wembley for the game.
This was my third visit to the National Stadium. The first of them being a 3-2 win against Scotland when Rickie Lambert scored his maiden goal on his first cap for The Three Lions in 2013. Then in 2016, we had the heartbreak that was the playoff final, where Mo Diame shattered the dreams of Wednesdayites by scoring a wonder-strike to send Hull City back into the Premier League.
England started the brightest of the two sides and were denied a sniff at goal thanks to good defending by the visitors. Tarkowski picked out Lingard who was unmarked. The Man Utd winger turned and slotted through Vardy. As Vardy pulled the trigger, Mattia De Sciglio chased back and put in a very important tackle to deny the forward.
Italy then had a chance of their own twenty minutes into the friendly. The ‘Azzurri’ worked the ball out to the right flank. Antonio Candreva curled in a very dangerous cross towards the six yard box where Ciro Immobile mistimed his jump and headed poorly over the bar.
Vardy was in on goal again several minutes later. Raheem Sterling rode the tackle of Lorenzo Pelligrini and picked out the run of Vardy. Vardy latched onto the through ball and shot towards goal which was saved by the feet of Donnarumma.
England took the lead on the half hour mark. Raheem Sterling, again, rode the first challenge from Marco Parolo but not the second as the referee blew for a freekick. Jesse Lingard took it quickly and slotted through Jamie Vardy who took a touch before rifling the ball into the top corner.
Italy were in search of an equaliser and had a good chance to minutes later. Immobile found space on the edge of the box and curled towards goal, John Stones was on hand to block the shot and the ball went out of play. The corner fell to Parolo who fired straight over the bar.
Raheem Sterling was a real threat all game with his quick feet and clever thinking. He drove forward and slid the ball down the left side of the box to Ashley Young whose shot took a nick off the heel of Zappacosta to send the ball just wide of the post.
The halftime whistle went with the visitors leading 1-0. England played very well in the first half and manager Gareth Southgate will surely be happy with how his team had conducted themselves.
Ten minutes after the restart, England had another good chance to extend the lead. Eric Dier darted forward from his own half before passing to Sterling. The Man City man ran towards the Italian backline and cut the ball back to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The midfielder turned onto his left foot and hit a fierce effort towards goal. Unfortunately for the Ox, the shot was straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma who caught it. Italy countered and saw Insigne curl Zappacosta’s cut back, towards goal. However the shot was tame and Butland got down to hold the attempt.
Sterling then wasted a good chance to put England further ahead. A good interchange of passes between Lingard, Sterling and Lallana ended with Raheem curling his shot high and over the target.
Italy stepped up the tempo for the final twenty minutes of the match to try and find a leveller, they had two great chances to do so through Insigne. The visitors had a freekick on the left-hand side of the box. Insigne stepped up and whipped his freekick just wide of the upright. Then Insigne volleyed Jorginho’s over the top dinked ball across the face of goal and inches past the post.
Controversy struck before fulltime as Italy equalised. Frederico Chiesa weaved his way into the England area before going to ground clutching at his foot. After the ref had initially decided there was nothing in it, Visual Assistant Referee Daniel Siebert called him over to view the challenge. Referee Deniz Aytekin watched the replay and then gave the spot kick. James Tarkowski was the alleged culprit for standing on Chiesa’s foot. Lorenzo Insigne took the penalty and berried the spot-kick past Jack Butland who had guessed the correct way.
The fulltime whistle went leaving the England fans in disappointment that they were denied the friendly win.
I’d like to give a special mention to the North Notts England Supporters Group and Stuart Eyre for getting this fantastic day out sorted.
Attendance: 82,598
Goals: Vardy (27’); Insigne (87’)
MOTM: Raheem Sterling
🏴 ENG: Jack Butland; Kyle Walker, John Stones (Jordan Henderson), James Tarkowski; Kieran Trippier (Danny Rose), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Adam Lallana), Eric Dier, Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy (Marcus Rashford), Jesse Lingard (Lewis Cook)
Unused Subs: Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dele Alli, Harry Maguire, Danny Welbeck, Jake Livermore, Alfie Mawson
🇮🇹 ITA: Gianluigi Buffon; Davide Zappacosta, Daniele Rugani, Leonardo Bonucci, Mattia De Sciglio; Marco Parolo, Jorginho, Lorenzo Pelligrini (Roberto Gagliardini); Antonio Candreva (Frederico Chiesa), Ciro Immobile (Andrea Belotti), Lorenzo Insigne
Unused Subs: Gianluigi Buffon, Mattia Perrin, Simone Verdi, Gianmarco Ferrari, Bryan Christiante, Matteo Darmian, Angelo Ogbonna, Marco Verrati, Alessandro Florenzi, Giacomo Bonaventura, Patrick Cutrone
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