Malta 0-1 Italy: Pelle the hero for lacklustre Azzurri

Date: 13th October 2014 at 10:37pm
Written by:

Malta v Italy - EURO 2016 QualifierItaly defeated Malta 1-0 at the Ta’ Qali Stadium on Monday in Euro 2016 qualifying Group H.

The Azzurri rarely looked troubled but failed to impress against the minnows as a debut goal from Graziano Pelle was followed shortly by a sending off for Malta captain Michael Misfud, before Leonardo Bonucci was himself dismissed toward the end of the match.

With a narrow 2-1 win over Azerbaijan in Sicily on Friday, the victory, regardless of the performance, does, however, extend new coach Antonio Conte’s winning streak and takes them top of the group, alongside Croatia, as they look to make light work of their route to France in 2016.

To begin with, the Azzurri had looked intent on making quick work of their hosts with Ciro Immobile and Alessandro Florenzi attempting to find their shooting range within the opening two minutes.

However, it was the Falcons who nearly went ahead on 15 minutes when Clayton Failla met a poor Matteo Darmian clearance on the edge the box only to drive low just wide of Gianluigi Buffon’s left post.

That seemed to liven up the Italians and with their next attack Manuel Pasqual delivered a perfect cross into the box but Pelle’s powerful header cannoned off the crossbar and was eventually cleared for a corner that then saw Giorgio Chiellini hit the post.

On 23 minutes the Azzurri did have their lead. Leonardo Bonucci meeting another corner to force the save from Andrew Hogg which Immobile prodded towards goal before Pelle swept home.

Five minutes later things got worse for Malta when all-time leading scorer Misfud was sent-off and faint hopes of an upset disappeared. Unfortunately for the striker the challenge on Florenzi was more ill-judged than malicious but the downward stamping motion could have really caused significant damage if connecting fully.

From that moment on the hosts were largely dependent on defending in an attempt to stop the expected attacking forays by the visitors yet the Italians were seemingly content to see out the match rather than try to inflict a heavier defeat.

When the Azzurri returned for the second period it was clear that Conte had instructed them to be more positive and Pelle and Immobile showed signs of good link up play before then getting in each other’s way as the latter had a point-blank header saved.

With 17 minutes remaining the match looked set to become more of a contest as Bonucci was dismissed for bringing down striker Andre Schembri as he was about to race through on goal, but after goalscorer Pelle sacrificed for Angelo Ogbonna’s introduction continued to control possession and clinch the three points.

Given the positivity this run of results has brought the Italian camp they will be extremely confident of cementing their place at the top of Group H when joint-leaders Croatia visit them at the San Siro on November 16 but will have to increase the tempo in an encounter that could see the winner take control of the group.

Follow Kevin Pogorzelski on Twitter: @rabbitrabbiton

 

Comments are closed.