Italy booked a resounding victory in the World Cup qualifying series on Wednesday evening. At halftime, the reigning European champions already enjoyed a 4-0 lead over Lithuania at halftime, which eventually left the field with a 5-0 defeat. It was the first win in the current international match period, after gli Azzurri previously shared the points with Bulgaria (1-1) and Switzerland (2-2). In Group C, the Italians are in the lead with fourteen points from six matches; Lithuania is still the scoreless last after five matches.
The squad of national coach Roberto Mancini was determined to recover from the so far disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign. The attack was immediately sought and before the end of the eleventh minute of play, Italy found the opening goal. Arvydas Novikovas lost the ball under pressure, allowing Moise Kean to take over. The striker didn’t hesitate for a moment and took care of the 1-0 in a beautiful way. Less than three minutes later, the score was doubled.
Giacomo Raspadori (now) with his first for Italy ???? Italy can work on goal difference against Lithuania ??#ZiggoSport #WCQ2022 #ITALTU pic.twitter.com/9zIJBDbH5w
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 8, 2021
At first Giacomo Raspadori thought he would score his debut goal with a shot from a distance. However, his attempt was changed in such a way that defender Edgaras Utkus scored an own goal: 2-0. Halfway through the first half, Sassuolo’s attacker still got his goal. In an attempt to intercept a dangerous pass from Kean, Justas Lasickas delivered the ball to Raspadori, who shot the leather into the roof of the goal from close range.
Moise Kean can do another dance for his second ?? He takes it out of the air and gives Italy a 4-0 lead again. Monster score in the making? ??#ZiggoSport #WCQ2022 #ITALTU pic.twitter.com/bvsvZJEZEr
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) September 8, 2021
The 4-0 was not long in coming. In the 29th minute of play, Federico Bernardeschi served Kean with a nice deep ball, who suddenly completed the ball from within the sixteen and hit the target very hard. In the second half, Raspadori again did not go well. The striker scored from the rebound after a bounced shot by substitute Davide Calabria, but the alleged goalscorer was offside: goal disallowed. In the end it was Giovanni Di Lorenzo who played the final chord in the 55th minute. Whether he intended it that way is not clear, but a shot that seemed intended as a cross ended up in the top corner. Lithuania was no longer able to score a goal of honour.