Italy rout Türkiye, France edge Belgium in UEFA Nations League
Baku, September 29, AZERTAC
Italy defeated Türkiye 4-1 while France claimed a late 1-0 victory over Belgium as UEFA Nations League Group A1 continued with Matchday 2 action Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Azzurri, who opened their Group A1 campaign with a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium, took control early against Türkiye, scoring three times in the opening 27 minutes.
Alessandro Bastoni opened the scoring in the ninth minute, powering home from a corner before Davide Frattesi doubled Italy's advantage in the 22nd minute.
Michael Kayode then scored his first international goal five minutes later, finishing after Francesco Pio Esposito found him unmarked in the box to send Italy into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Türkiye pulled one back shortly after the restart as Oguz Aydin capitalized on Gianluigi Donnarumma coming off his line and squared the ball for Baris Alper Yilmaz to fire into an empty net in the 47th minute.
But Italy quickly restored their three-goal advantage through Pio Esposito in the 50th minute.
Yilmaz appeared to score his second goal seven minutes later, but it was ruled out for offside as Italy went on to seal a 4-1 victory.
The result extended Türkiye's wait for a first victory over Italy.
Olise strikes late for France
In the group's other match, France beat Belgium 1-0 in Brussels through a late Michael Olise goal, building on their 1-0 away victory over Türkiye in the opening round.
France created the better opportunities for much of the contest, with Desire Doue hitting the woodwork in the 12th minute before Romeo Lavia cleared Pierre Kalulu's effort off the line in the 27th.
Lucas da Cunha struck the post from long range early in the second half, while France goalkeeper Mike Maignan denied Dodi Lukebakio at the other end in the 73rd minute.
Olise, introduced in the 77th minute, finally broke the deadlock with two minutes remaining.
The French attacker collected the ball just inside his own half, drove at the Belgian defense and steered a low shot into the far corner to secure France's second consecutive victory in the group.
In the next round of Group A1 fixtures on Friday, Belgium will host Türkiye, while France welcome Italy.
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