Italy beat Belgium to reach Euro 2020 semi-finals

Italy are through to the Euro 2020 semi-finals after an exhilarating 2-1 win over Belgium.

Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne gave Italy a two-goal lead before Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.

Belgium pushed for an equaliser late on, with teenager Jeremy Doku a constant threat, but Italy held on to seal the victory after a fabulous game of end-to-end football.

Italy will now play Spain on Tuesday, who defeated Switzerland on penalties earlier this evening.

Leonardo Bonucci put the ball into the net from close range early on but the goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee.

It was Belgium who had the better of the opening 30 minutes though and Kevin De Bruyne forced Gianluigi Donnarumma to bat away a shot destined for the left corner.

Donnarumma was again called into action to parry a Lukaku shot behind.

It was Italy who opened the scoring though when Marco Verratti found Barella to direct the ball past Thibaut Courtois.

Insigne made it two in the 44th minute with one of the best goals of the tournament. He jinked his way from the halfway line to the edge of the area before curling the ball into the top right corner.

Belgium pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage time when Jeremy Doku was bundled over by Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Lukaku fired the ball straight down the middle.

Lukaku squandered a superb chance to equalise in the second half. First, a mishit from close range gave Leonardo Spinazzola time to make a block on the line when the Inter Milan striker should have buried it.

Doku was a constant threat to the Italy defence late on and beat three men before cutting inside and unleashing a shot narrowly over the bar.

Thorgan Hazard also came within inches of scoring but failed to connect with Nacer Chadli’s cross.

Cover Photo: “italy flag” by joeannenah is licensed under CC BY 2.0