Football: crazy Italy, beats Israel 5-4 with Tonali's goal in the second half

Nine goals in total, two own-goals - both Italian - and a crazy victory grabbed in the midst of a recovery after going down, coming back and being caught after going ahead by two goals. From the wheel of the neutral field of Debrecen came a surprising 5-4 victory that rewarded the courage and desire to react, and to achieve a full result, of Italy, which beat Israel and moved into second place, which is worth the playoff for qualification for the World Cup, putting further pressure on the leader Norway, with full points and now three points ahead of the Azzurri. For Gattuso, good news came from the attack, with Kean scoring a brace as a top striker and Retegui starring as an assist-man, while the sore point was the defence. Donnarumma conceded four goals, with two own goals from Locatelli and Bastoni, and risked conceding even more against a not irresistible opponent. Certainly the balance of the department and the defensive phase are the aspects on which the coach will have to work the most in view of the next delicate commitments on the winding road to America.

Italy were surprised at the start by Ben Shimon's boys, who were more aggressive and focused in their approach to the match. Bastoni saved on Biton's cross, on the following corner Israel scored but the referee cancelled due to a foul by Lemkin on Donnarumma. The Azzurri did not wake up, so in the 16th minute a combination between Dasa and Biton caused Locatelli, one of the new additions to the line-up compared to Estonia along with Mancini, to score an own goal. At that point, Italy reared its head again and began to play, hitting the crossbar in an acrobatic move with Locatelli and almost equalizing with Kean, who, on the half-hour mark, missed the equalizer from the heart of the penalty area. The Israelis were not satisfied with 1-0 and continued to attack, dragged along by the play of the unleashed Solomon, supported on the left flank by Gloukh. The weak point of Ben Shimon's national team, however, was the defence, and the Azzurri took advantage of this before the interval, when Retegui and Kean finally managed to find each other and the Fiorentina bomber, with a powerful and precise low shot, drew the result.

In the second half, Italy paid dearly for another soporific exit from the blocks. Solomon was a tightrope walker and his cross was collected by Dor Peretz, who struck Donnarumma with a first-time finish. The Azzurri bungled things at the back, but this time they made up for it immediately, equalising a minute after trailing 2-1 through the usual Kean, who took advantage of a collective sleep of the Israeli rearguard to put things right. In a burst of momentum, the Azzurri - more with heart and nerves than play - took the lead, with Retegui's back-heel feeding Politano, who scored at the far post to make it 3-2. Israel took the blow but did not give up, also because defensively Italy were dancing, and not a little. After a save by Donnarumma and a save at the unguarded goal by Locatelli on Baribo's attempt, the Azzurri found the poker through the axis of the newly-entered Frattesi-Raspadori, with the new Atletico Madrid striker seeming to seal the deal from the heart of the area. But this crazy match had another heart-stopping finale in store: a slip by Bastoni rekindled Israel's ardour, with the second Italian own-goal of the evening, the prelude to Dor Peretz's header in the 44th minute that made it a resounding 4-4 in the space of 120 seconds. It was a cold shower for Italy, but it was Tonali who saved the Azzurri in the last minute. In the second half, he hit a shot on the turn that allowed Gattuso's men to catch Israel in second place (one game down) and to overtake Norway. But what a struggle.