England U-21 0-1 Italy U-21: Insigne to the rescue for the Azzurrini

Italy U-21 defeated England U-21 1-0 at the Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Lorenzo Insigne’s clever second half free-kick gave Italy a deserved victory, as they seemed destined to be frustrated by Stuart Pearce’s England side.

A goalless first half was dominated by the Italians, who were denied a clear penalty after Jack Robinson brought down Alessandro Florenzi at the end of the first half.

After 10 minutes Genoa’s Ciro Immobile was provided the first opportunity of the match, Matteo Bianchetti playing a clever ball down the right channel, but 23-year-old striker he drove his shot well wide.

Minutes later a lack of communication between England goalkeeper Jack Butland and Nathaniel Clyne nearly allowed Insigne through on goal, however, Clyne recovered quickly to clear.

It was Insigne again who had Italy’s next chance, combining smartly with Juventus’ Luca Marrone, who inventively headed into the 22-year-old’s path, who lifted the ball over the approaching Butland and crossbar.

In the 38th minute Clyne broke into the penalty area, but his low cross was cleared, the Azzurrini countered swiftly, and after Insigne played in Florenzi the Roma man was brought down, only for their penalty claim to be waved away.

Within minutes of the second half England had signalled their intent to attack the Italian defence, having two goals disallowed in the opening five minutes.

Conor Wickham visibly offside for the first, the second through Craig Dawson, after some terribly Italian defending at an England corner, was harder to justify, few managing to distinguish who had committed a supposed offence.

On 76 minutes the Azzurrini thought they had finally been awarded the penalty they should have received during the first half, however, after a smart turn from Manolo Gabbiadini, Clyne’s clumsy challenge was adjudged to have taken place outside the box.

Any injustice felt by the Italians was short lived however, when Insigne curled a wonderful free-kick over the wall beyond Butland.

In the final moments Jordan Henderson nearly equalised with a free-kick, but goalkeeper Francesco Bardi saved well down to his right.

With Israel and Norway drawing 2-2 earlier in the day the Italy take pole position in Group A.