Tommaso Baldanzi celebrates the winner for Italy
Italy opened their U21 European Championships campaign with three points against Romania, with Tommaso Baldanzi’s first-half goal enough to seal a 1-0 win in Trnava and bring an end to the Azzurri’s five-game winless run.
Against a spirited Romania side heading to Slovakia on the back of a 1-0 win over Georgia last week, Luca Koleosho’s attempt to cut in and find the opener with 11 minutes on the clock was halted by a routine save from Razvan Sava.
But early goals have been commonplace in Italy’s most recent fixtures, and Romania’s defence was breached by Baldanzi just before the half-hour mark after a tidy cutback from Mattero Ruggeri.
Carmine Nunziata’s men could have extended their lead in the minutes leading up to the break when Koleosho was picked out in space on the left, but the Burnley man’s strike rattled the base of the woodwork.
It was an opportunity that could have instantly come back to bite the Azzurri when their opponents were awarded a soft penalty after Cher Ndour clipped the calf of Cristian Ignat in first-half stoppage time. However, Louis Munteanu’s spot-kick was palmed away by Sebastiano Desplanches.
Italy - Romania match stats
The Tricolorii did not let that deter them after the restart and looked to have restored parity on the hour mark when Constantin Grameni nodded a cross on towards Ianis Stoica, although the forward’s celebrations were quickly halted by the linesman’s flag.
With their opponents having twice gone close, Italy upped the ante, and it was only a remarkable Sava save from another Baldanzi effort that kept Romania in contention.
Defeat in their U21 European Championships opener means that the daunting task of picking up three points against Spain on Saturday could prove crucial for Romania if they’re to avoid a third consecutive Group Stage elimination, while Italy - having survived a scare - will look to build a gap at the top of Group A when they take on hosts Slovakia.
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