Italy became the first side to win their first two matches in the on-going European Championships as they beat Switzerland 3-0. Italy continued their brilliant unbeaten run by beating a lacklustre Swiss outfit. Both sides were almost unchanged from their tournament openers and Italy produced another statement display.
Switzerland were being adventurous in the first five minutes of the game but as the match progressed, Italy started having more of the ball. The Azzurri not only had a good amount of possession, but they made wonderful use of it by keeping hold of the ball in the final third.
Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini thought he had scored the opening goal but his goal was short lived as he had impeded the ball with his hand. Italy continued to penetrate through the Switzerland backline and were rewarded with an easy goal by Manuel Locatelli. The midfielder latched on to a pass by Domenico Berardi. Both of them are relatively newcomers to the national side and ply their trade for Serie A club Sassuolo.
The second half was a slightly more even contest but Switzerland lacked the lethalness in front goal. Locatelli doubled the lead in the 52nd minute and it was more or less finished for Switzerland from there onwards. Xherdan Shaqiri had a decent match but he lacked support at times.
Steven Zuber came the closest to score for Switzerland but his shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The match would have been more interesting had they scored but it wasn’t to be. Domenico Berardi and Lorenzo Insigne were both guilty of taking an ambitious pop at goal instead of passing it, but it didn’t cost them in the end.
The best chances of the second half fell to Ciro Immobile. He missed a few easy goals which he would have scored on another day before scoring the 3rd and final goal. His goal meant that Italy had won the match with an emphatic 3-0 result.
Overall, it was a great effort by Roberto Mancini’s side as they are more or less in the round of 16. A draw will guarantee them the first place in the group.