Italy thrash North Macedonia as the Azzurri won their first game against the visitors on their home. They have struggled to face North Macedonia as they managed to knock Italy out of the 2022 World Cup. Also, got a draw in the debut match of Luciano Spalletti as Italy’s manager. However, the former Napoli manager got his win this time with a big margin. Spalletti said he knew Italy would score goals, but was wary of the visitor’s counter-attacks.
Italy had a strong start to the game, but North Macedonia were bold to have a high line against them away from home. Raspadori managed to sneak one past the keeper, but he was offside. finally, Darmian opened the scoring for Italy following a corner. Both Inter Milan wing-backs were operating on the flanks for Italy with Acerbi in defense and Barella in the middle.
Barella’s backheel assist gave Chiesa the time to drive past the keeper for the second. Chiesa scored another on a transition as Berardi gave him space to run. The Juve forward’s shot got a deflection and went in to give Italy the third before halftime.
Italy thrash North Macedonia in a seven-goal thriller
The visitors made a triple change after the halftime and got one back soon. Atanasov, the new man in got one back following a corner with his sharp header. The Azzurri had slowed the tempo of the game and were not as keen to score a goal as they were in the first half.
North Macedonia scored another to make things interesting. Atanasov again fired his shot and got lucky with a big deflection from Acerbi to get his and his team’s second. The lead was now down to just one, but Spalletti made some changes to bring some fresh legs in the midfield. Barella played to Raspadori, and the Napoli forward fired in for the fourth goal. Italy then sealed the game as Dimarco squared it to El Shaarawy to make it 5-2
