Italy 2-0 Finland: Juve starlet Kean scores on his first and winning start

  /  R47

Nicolò Barella’s deflected strike and a debut goal from Moise Kean allowed Italy to start their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Finland.

Match Events

7' GOAL! Italy 1-0 Finland (Barella)

GOOOOAAAAAAL! Finland fail to clear beyond the edge of the box after a Verratti free-kick, where Barella is on hand to smash in his first international goal, with the help of a deflection. 1-0 to Italy.

40' NO PEN! Bernardeschi goes down in the box

Bernadeschi wants a penalty after Vaisanen appears to stick a lazy leg out. The Juventus man takes an extra step before going down theatrically, and the ref doesn't give it as a result.

74' GOAL! Italy 2-0 Finland (Kean)

GOOOOOOAAAAAL! Italy have surely sealed all three points with a goal from Kean on his full debut. The youngster caps off a fine night by latching on to Immobile's pass and calmly slotting the ball into the bottom-left corner. 2-0 to the home side!

Match Reports

Italy started their Euro 2020 qualification campaign in style as Nicolo Barella and Moise Kean scored their first international goals in a 2-0 victory over Finland.

Having failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and put in a lacklustre showing in the Nations League, Italy were in need of a win to kick off their Group J campaign on a positive note.

And they were ahead early on in Udine when Cagliari youngster Barella – one of several fresh faces introduced under Roberto Mancini – hammered home from the edge of the box.

Teemu Pukki squandered a gilt-edged chance to restore parity midway through the second half, and Finland were made to pay for that miss when Juventus teenager Kean slotted in to make sure of the points.

Match Ratings:

Line-ups

Italy XI: Bonucci,  Chiellini, Immobile, Verratti, Biraghi, Cristiano Piccini, Jorginho, Bernardeschi, Barella, G. Donnarumma, M.Kean

Subs: Quagliarella, S. Sirigu, Shaarawy, Pavoletti, A. Cragno, Spinazzola, Romagnoli, Politano, V. Grifo, S.Sensi, Gianluca Mancini, Nicolò Zaniolo

Finland XI: T. Sparv, Teemu Pukki, L. Hradecky, K. Hämäläinen, J. Pirinen, P. Arajuuri, J. Toivio, A. Granlund, R. Lod, Vaisanen, Glen Kamara

Subs: A. Jaakkola, R. Schüller, J. Kauko, M. Sumusalo, Jesse Joronen, R. Taylor, P. Soiri, Thomas Lam, F. Jensen, R. Karjalainen, L. Lappalainen, L. Väisänen

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