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Italy did a light job with Moldova by clinching a sweeping 6-0 win in a friendly at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence on Wednesday.
A Stephan El Shaarawy double, along with a header from Bryan Cristante and a debut goal from Francesco Caputo, led Azzurri to a 5-0 lead at halftime, helped by an own goal from Veacaslav Posmoc.
In a tighter second half, however, Italy added one more when Domenico Berardi fired from a Vincenzo Grifo center to seal a comfortable victory, ahead of the UEFA Nations League clash against Poland on Saturday.
The Azzurri rushed forward through Cristante, as the Roma midfielder rose higher to direct a Giacomo Bonaventura corner kick into the roof of the net.
Dominating possession, the hosts began to open Moldova and found more joy with less than a quarter of the match remaining, as a swift passive move found Cristiano Biraghi, and his incisive deep pass allowed Caputo to break the trap from outside. game and fit.
The match was out of question at the half hour mark when El Shaarawy added his name to the score sheet. Cleverly knocking Cristante’s wonderful ball over the top, the Shanghai Shenhua striker reached the baseline and threw the ball past goalkeeper Alexei Kosolev.
Italy were getting back into style before the break and a Cristante pass that split the defense released Manuel Lazzarri, though his cut to Caputo was blocked with the goal at the forward’s mercy.
Caputo was heavily involved once again as the Azzurri extended their lead moments later with a disastrous own goal. The Sassuolo forward’s touch to bring a splintered ball into the area was cut off by Posmoc, but the defender could only shoot at his own net.
He was 5-0 at the edge of halftime when Lazzari ran behind and threw the ball over the running Kosolev, and El Shaarawy was available to head into an empty net at the back post before Igor Armas could clear.
The Azzurri started the second period brilliantly and camped in the middle of Moldova, with an expertly timed sliding entry from Posmac preventing Caputo from doubling his tally early on. Meanwhile, Bonaventura burst into the area with a few neat steps and saw a powerful shot deflect inches over the crossbar from a tight angle.
As the match got closer to the scheduled time, Italy’s passing game grew more lethargic and Moldova’s rare attack nearly resulted in a goal. Euginiu Cociuc showed a quick step ahead of Francesco Acerbi on the edge of the area, but his low shot whizzed past the post.
With 20 minutes to go, Italy found a sixth place, when Emerson Palmieri released fellow substitute Grifo to run down the left and cross for the unmarked Berardi to enter with his side foot.
Emerson then came close with a well-worked free kick, while Kevin Lasagne was downed while running as Italy comfortably saw victory.
The post-Clinical Italy cruise through Moldova first appeared on Forza Italian Football.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com
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