Italy too good for Turkiye
Italy continued its strong start under Roberto Mancini with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Turkiye in the Nations League.
Mancini's second spell as Italy coach started with a loss to France, but the Azzurri have taken seven points from their next three outings to sit second in Group A1.
They had to do it the hard way at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, where Turkiye – under the tutelage of Italian coach Vincenzo Montella – kept them in a tussle until the end.
A first half of few clear chances was punctuated by a real moment of quality from Gianluca Scamacca, who instinctively fired in a snapshot off the underside of the crossbar to break the deadlock in the 26th minute.
Yet a decent response from Italy early in the second half told when Aral Simsir turned into an empty net after the ball broke kindly for him at the back post.
Parity, however, lasted just three minutes, as substitute Riccardo Calafiori leapt highest to meet Nicolo Barella's delivery and thumped in a header to restore Italy's advantage.
The contest was settled in the 87th minute, as another of Mancini's substitutes, Francesco Pio Esposito, flicked in from Alessandro Romano's centre.
