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Although the titled rivals arrived in Vilnius as undoubted favorites of the match, they had to sweat for the victory.
In the first half, the guests controlled the ball twice as long, however, the Italian team did not create extremely dangerous opportunities for the goal defended by Tomas Švedkauskas.
“The result of the first half was not surprising. All the games are challenging. The Lithuanians defended well in the first half, we did not have many good situations. There are no easy games at this level,” said Roberto Mancini, strategist of the Italian national team. , after the duel.
The 56-year-old soccer specialist, who made the switch after the break, didn’t ask. Stefano Sensi was the replacement. brought the Italians forward.
Within minutes, the guests had a great opportunity to double the score, but after a great play, T.Švedkauskas protected the Lithuanian goalkeepers from Federico Bernardeschi’s attack.
The Lithuanians, who resisted the onslaught of the opponents’ attacks, did not intend to lower their hands and reminded themselves: the hosts of the square had created many dangerous episodes, however, they could not level the number in the marker.
The Lithuanian team missed their second goal at the end of the duel. 94 min. Ciro Immobile scored an 11-meter penalty.
After this victory, R. Mancini registered his name in the annals of Italian football. It was the 25th consecutive losing game for the team he coached.
With this achievement, the soccer specialist has caught up with another famous soccer strategist, Marcello Lippi, who in 2006 led Italy to a triumph in the world championships.
“It just came to our notice then. We played slowly at first, but after the break our game was faster. We had a chance to score more goals. However, it was a really difficult match.
We had a lot more chances in the second half. In the first match, the Lithuanians lost to the Swiss 0: 1, so winning by two goals is a positive result. We are already quite tired at this stage of the season, ”commented the Italian national team strategist.
In the victorious match, the guests made 11 shots to the Lithuanian goal area.
After the match, a soccer specialist from Italy also mentioned the game on a synthetic surface.
“Playing on a synthetic surface was not easy. Yesterday it rained during practice, so the ball moved much faster. Today, the surface was dry, so the game was slower ”, reasoned the guest coach.
Prior to this match in Subgroup C, the Italians marched undefeated. Mancini students have successfully crossed the barriers of Northern Ireland and Bulgaria.
This was the seventh meeting between the Lithuanian eleven and the Italian. Until then, the two games ended in a draw and the Italians celebrated their victory four times.
