Two of the best teams left in the tournament faced off at the Allianz Arena in Munich. With Italy’s unbeaten record still strong, Belgium looked to put an end to it with their talented attacking players. However, it was not to be for the Red Devils, as Italy’s quality on the night was too much for them to handle.
Azzurri made a splendid start to the game with their possession-oriented approach. Their relentless attacks kept troubling Belgium, as the game was mostly being played in the Belgian half during the opening 45 minutes. The efforts yielded output when Nicolo Barella scored at the half hour mark, before assisting for the second goal, which was a sublime curler by Lorenzo Insigne. However, Belgium didn’t take long, as Jeremy Doku won a penalty, which was converted by Romelu Lukaku right at stroke of half time.
The entirety of the second half was a desperate chase from Roberto Martinez’s side for the much-required equalizer, which didn’t materialize after another 50 minutes of football (5 minutes added after 90’). The closest they came was when Kevin De Bruyne squared the ball across the six-yard box to find Lukaku, only for the Inter Milan striker’s tap in to be saved by Leonardo Spinazzola.
The second half was mostly a game of spells, where both sides had their opportunities to dominate. Although Italy missed a few extremely promising goalscoring opportunities, they seemed comfortable in defending a single goal lead for the most part. However, during Belgium’s phases of dominance and perpetual attacks, De Bruyne and co. did a commendable job at making Italy uncomfortable. Roberto Mancini’s side were spotted defending desperately, especially against the blistering pace of Doku.
In the end, Azzurri did manage to protect their slender advantage, and go through to the semi-final. They will now be facing Spain in a mouthwatering fixture.
