Player Ratings: Italy 1-0 Albania

Date: 18th November 2014 at 11:12pm
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Italy v AlbaniaItaly overcame Albania 1-0 in their final fixture of 2014 thanks to a late strike from debutant Stefano Okaka, that may end up going down as an own goal.

The Azzurri toiled at times but improved as the game went on and in the end, were fairly comfortable victors.

Did we get our ratings right? Have your say in the comments below.

Italy

Salvatore Sirigu – 7 – Iffy

Was lucky not to be punished when he dallied for too long on a Moretti pass back and his resulting clearance almost resulted in an Albanian goal while he was not entirely convincing in dealing with a Memushaj free kick.

Lorenzo De Silvestri – 6 – Adjustment

Was adjusting to a new position that saw him play in the centre of a defensive trio although moved further wide when Albania were in possession of the ball and coped well to that task.

Leonardo Bonucci – 7 – Commanding

Any difficult high balls that the Albanians attempted to play were dealt with easily by the Juventus stopper although Bianconeri fans will be worried by a muscle problem sustained in the second half that saw him taken off.

Emiliano Moretti – 7 – Comfortable

His experience helped him throughout and although he was never under too much pressure defensively, is still a player who can leave the field being proud of his achievements at the Marassi.

Luca Antonelli – 6 – Solid

Showed a lot of energy down the left hand side although he did not get forward as much as he would have liked due to Italy’s insistence on allowing Cerci to cause problems on the other flank but did supply one excellent cut back for Giovinco that almost led to a goal.

Andrea Bertolacci – 6 – Bright

Crisp passer and while intelligent in his distribution, will perhaps be a little disappointed that he could not make a greater impact on proceedings, at his home ground too but he did well, especially in the early stages.

Alberto Aquilani – 5 – Anonymous

For a man playing at the heart of the action, he did not do enough and often went missing for large spells and did not do himself justice or indeed any favours in looking to try and convince Conte that he deserves a starting berth.

Marco Parolo – 6 – Decent

Certainly eager to try his luck from distance and this willingness to try and test Berisha was welcome. That said, some efforts were better than others but all in all a decent outing for the Lazio midfielder.

Alessio Cerci – 8 – Star

He was eager and very prominent in an attacking sense despite playing in a somewhat different position than he has been used to. However, after a difficult time of it at club level, he will be extremely happy with his man of the match performance.

Sebastian Giovinco – 7.5 – Threat

Lively and impressive, will kick himself that he could not finish off Cerci’s pass in the second half that was crying out to be blasted home but he could only drive into the thankful arms of Ertit Berisha although he did try and catch him out shortly afterwards with a cheeky free kick.

Mattia Destro – 5 – Guilty

Largely frustrated and left feeding off scraps and little service that he thrives upon at club level. However at international level, you will likely only get one good chance and he was guilty of spurning a golden one when Cerci played him in one-on-one but he failed to even hit the target when he tried to curl the ball home.

Substitutes

Stefano Okaka – 7 – Hero

Replaced Giovinco on 65 minutes for his debut and threw himself around immediately, almost scoring two minutes after coming on having shown good strength in the box to roll the defender and get away an effort that was well saved before getting his ‘goal’. Although the romantic in anyone would want to award him the goal for his fine front post header, it was clear that the final, and defining, touch came from a defender.

Alessandro Matri – 6

On for the disappointing Destro but did not have enough time to get used to the slow pace of the game.

Mattia Perin – N/A

Replaced Sirigu on 71 minutes and although he was not involved a great deal, expect to see much more of this man in the national colours.

Giacomo Bonaventura – 6 – Assist

Set up the goal with an excellent corner kick having replaced Bertolacci but almost put an effort from distance out of the stadium in injury time that he will not want to remember.

Manolo Gabbiadini – N/A

On for Cerci in the final 15 minutes but had little to no impact.

Francesco Acerbi – 7 – Inspirational

On for the last 10 to replace captain Bonucci and after two health scares in overcoming cancer, just seeing him in the blue of Italy to represent his country was the heartwarming tale of the night.

 

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