Insigne stars as Italy down Belgium in thrilling quarter-final

Italy stunned world number Belgium to book a semifinals clash against Spain in the Euro 2020 on Friday.

A stunning strike
by Lorenzo Insigne fired the winning side to a 2-1 triumph over Roberto
Martinez’s men.

Nicolo Barella
struck the opening goal of the quarter-final in Munich before Insigne curled in
Italy’s second in an action-packed first-half.

Belgium grabbed a
lifeline just before the break when Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty, but Martinez’s
side ultimately fell short against a disciplined Italian defence.

While Italy face
Spain at Wembley on Tuesday, defeat means more European Championship
quarter-final heartbreak for Belgium, who exited at the same stage in 2016
after defeat by Wales.

Belgium sorely
missed their captain Eden Hazard, ruled out by a hamstring injury, even as
Kevin De Bruyne won his race to shake off an ankle injury.

The Manchester
City playmaker showed why the medical staff worked around the clock to get him
fit by regularly causing Italy problems, but Romelu Lukaku twice was denied by
Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Italy had the ball
in the net on 13 minutes when Leonardi Bonucci chested the ball past Thibaut
Courtois from a free-kick, but the goal was disallowed by VAR for an offside
against captain Giorgio Chiellini.

Marco Verratti and
Youri Tielemans both earned yellow cards for midfield tussles involving the
pair.

Verratti was
booked for holding Tielemans in a tackle, while the Belgian picked up a yellow
card moments later for clattering the Italian. Italy broke the deadlock with 31
minutes played.

When Belgium
failed to clear, Verratti played the ball into Barella, who stayed on his feet,
squeezed past two defenders and drilled across Courtois. 

A piece of
brilliance on 44 minutes saw Napoli’s Insigne double the Italy lead when he was
allowed to dribble to the edge of the area and then curl his shot inside the
post.

However, Belgium
got back into the game when a rush of blood saw Giovanni Di Lorenzo concede a
penalty for using his elbow to brush off Jeremy Doku, filling in for Hazard.

Lukaku stepped up
and rifled in the resulting spot kick to halve the deficit.

With an hour gone,
Belgium had the best chance of the second half, coming agonisingly close to an
equaliser, when De Bruyne’s cross led to Lukaku having his shot blocked by the
thigh of Leonardo Spinazzola.

Martinez brought
on fresh legs up front with Dries Mertens and Nacer Chadli for the final 20
minutes.

There was an
almost instant impact when Mertens fed Chadli, whose cross-cum-shot was
deflected by Di Lorenzo just out of the reach of Lukaku and Thorgan Hazard.

With time running
out, Doku fired over after beating three defenders, while a last-gasp De Bruyne
free-kick also failed to beat the Italy defence as the Azzurri clung on.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/sports/football/2021/07/insigne-stars-as-italy-down-belgium-in-thrilling-quarter-final/