Italy into Euro 2020 final after dramatic penalty win over Spain

Italy are through to the Euro 2020 final after beating Spain on penalties.

Jorginho struck the winning penalty to send Italy through after shootout misses from Dani Olmo and Alvaro Morata.

Federico Chiesa opened the scoring by curling the ball into the right corner before Morata came off the bench to roll the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma late on.

Italy will play either England or Denmark in the final on Sunday.

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Nicolo Barella gave Spain an early warning when he hit the far post after cutting in from the left but it was Spain who had the better of the chances early on.

Mikel Oyarzabal should have done better in the box when he was played in by Pedri before Ferran Torres shot just wide from long range.

Gianluigi Donnarumma was called into action midway through the first half when he gave the ball straight to Eric Garcia. The Barcelona man found Dani Olmo in the area but Donnarumma dived to his right to keep the shot out.

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Oyarzabal, who was preferred to Alvaro Morata in the Spain starting line-up, had another chance before halftime but lofted his shot over the bar.

Italy had a superb opportunity to open the scoring when Lorenzo Insigne played in Emerson but the shot smashed off the crossbar.

Sergio Busquets came close to the opener after the restart when he shot just over the bar before Chiesa went straight up the other end but was denied by Unai Simon.

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It was Chiesa who did make the breakthrough on the hour mark when a quick counterattack released Marco Verratti on the left. His cross was cut out by Aymeric Laporte but the ball fell to Chiesa who curled it in from 12 yards.

Domenico Berardi could have made it two after coming off the bench. A superb ball from Chiesa found Berardi in space but his shot hit the legs of Simon.

Spain forced the game into extra time though when substitute Morata played a one-two with Olmo which unlocked the Italian defence before sliding the ball into the bottom left corner.

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Laporte could have put Spain ahead a few minutes later but headed wide from a corner and Busquets fired over a Spain counterattack.

Spain were in the ascendancy going into extra time and came close to taking the lead. A free-kick was not dealt with and Olmo and Morata both saw shots blocked.

It was Italy who had the ball in the net in the second half though when Berardi was put through with a ball over the top. The Sassuolo forward beat Simon to the ball to score but replays showed he was a few yards offside.

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Locatelli stepped up to open the shootout but Simon dived to his right to make the save before Olmo blazed over the crossbar.

Both teams converted their next three penalties but Donnarumma dived to his left to stop Morata’s penalty and put Italy in control.

Jorginho kept his cool to wrongfoot Simon and roll the ball into the bottom right corner to send Italy through to the final.

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

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1 Response

  1. 07/07/2021 22:39

    […] England will play Italy in the final on Sunday, after they beat Spain yesterday. […]

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