The Italy u21 side are through to the 2015 European u21 Championship finals after overcoming Slovakia 3-1 in an action packed play-off match at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, going through 4-2 on aggregate, while the away side were reduced to nine men.
Goals from Fernando Bernadeschi and Andrea Belotti were enough to see the Azzurrini through despite a fightback goal from Stanislav Lobotka in the second half before Samuele Longo added a third late on to finish it off. Ondrej Duda and Adam Zrelak were both sent off for Slovakia in an ill-tempered affair that was high on drama and flashpoints.
Italy took just five minutes to break the deadlock through Federico Bernardeschi, who eased any pre-game jitters with a superbly taken goal. The Fiorentina youngster picked up the ball just outside Slovakia’s penalty area and showed sublime technical skill in lofting the ball deftly into the far corner to give his country the lead.
Slovakia had a good chance to level the scoring on 11 minutes but Adam Zrelak could only fire wide of the post. It was arguably the away side’s best sequence of playing during the first-half and was only missing the finishing touch, but they would live to regret the missed opportunity.
The Azzurrrini maintained their early pressure and were rewarded when they went 2-0 up after 16 minutes via an Andrea Belotti penalty. Domenico Berardi had won the penalty after being fouled by Ondrej Duda and it was converted confidently by the Palermo starlet to put Italy firmly in the driving seat after a quarter of an hour.
Italy continued to exert their dominance as the Slovakian’s struggled to cope with the quick tempo set by the hosts and Berardi almost made it 3-0 before the half-hour mark but saw his shot fizz just wide of the post. Cutting inside dangerously, Berardi eluded a challenge before getting his shot away on goal. It was symbolic of a first period when Slovakia failed to quell the wave of attacks from an impressive Italian outfit.
Things then threatened to spiral out of control for the visitors as Duda was sent off for a second bookable offence after clashing with Berardi in a repeat of the penalty incident. It was the last thing Slovakia needed after having already looked seriously inferior from the beginning.
However, the Azzurrini failed to get going in the second half and were punished as Stanislav Lobotka fired Slovakia back into contention after 63 minutes. The small section of travelling supporters were finally given something to shout about on an afternoon that had not gone according to plan for the Slovakians but were given a lifeline by the Ajax forward.
Inevitably, Slovakia found a spring in their step and forced a good stop from Bardi after a long-range effort before easily the most controversial incident of the match which threatened to get tempers boiling over. After breaking free from midfield, Ivan Schranz burst into the Italian penalty area before being challenged by the Azzurrini captain Matteo Bianchetti.
For a second, it looked as if the referee had pointed to the spot but after conferring with his assistant, he pointed to a corner, causing feverish gesticulations from the Slovakian bench.
Slovakia failed to regain their composure following the incident as Zrelak was sent off after picking up a second yellow card shortly before head coach Ivan Galad was sent to the stands for kicking the ball away in frustration.
Samuele Longo then rounded the keeper in injury time and wrapped up the match for the home side with a well taken goal that finished off Slovakia and booked Italy’s place in the finals next summer.
