FC Internazionale Milano forward Mattia Destro scored two and set up another as Italy secured their place at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with a game to spare after a topsy-turvy 3-2 victory over Northern Ireland.
The Azzurrini dispatched the Czech Republic in their elite round Group 5 opener despite being down to ten men, but the Irish proved a tougher proposition in Schelkovo. Indeed, Steve Beaglehole's side were briefly in front when Oliver Norwood converted a penalty just after the half-hour, following a foul on William Grigg, before Destro took centre stage.
The Inter youngster rifled in a free-kick (40) then swiftly turned provider, charging down the right on the break and teeing up Luca Tremolada to make it 2-1. Northern Ireland recovered from two goals down to draw with Russia on Friday and again they clawed their way back, captain Connor McLaughlin finding the net just before the hour after a Shane Ferguson free-kick.
Yet Destro was not done, and his eighth goal in qualifying midway through the second period established an unassailable lead atop Group 5 for Italy. They join Spain, Portugal and hosts France in this summer's finals.
©UEFA.com 1998-2010. All rights reserved.
Italy | Northern Ireland | ||||
1 | Simone Colombi (GK) | 1 | Conor Devlin (GK) | ||
2 | Marco Faraoni | 72' | 4 | Jonathan Breeze | 77' |
3 | Michelangelo Albertazzi | 5 | Connor McLaughlin (C) | 58' | |
4 | Roberto Soriano | 6 | Christopher Hegarty | 80' 87' | |
6 | Luca Caldirola | 7 | James Gray | 54' | |
7 | Jacopo Sala | 46' | 8 | Oliver Norwood | 32' 74' |
9 | Mattia Destro | 40' 66' | 9 | William Grigg | |
10 | Fabio Borini (C) | 10 | Patrick McLaughlin | ||
11 | Cristian Galano | 13 | Liam Boyce | 71' | |
15 | Alessandro Malomo | 17 | Craig Hill | ||
16 | Luca Tremolada | 42' | 18 | Ryan Blake | 40' |
Substitutes | |||||
12 | Mattia Perin (GK) | 12 | Wayne Drummond (GK) | ||
5 | Riccardo Brosco | 2 | Liam Bagnall | ||
8 | Andrea Bertolacci | 11 | Shane Ferguson | 54' | |
13 | Andrea Adamo | 14 | Andrew Mitchell | 87' | |
17 | Marco D'Alessandro | 46' 88' | 15 | Scott Davidson | |
18 | Cardoso Dumitru | 16 | Neil Dougan | 77' | |
Coach | |||||
Massimo Piscedda (ITA) | Steve Beaglehole (NIR) | ||||
Referee | |||||
István Kovács (ROU) | |||||
Assistant referees | |||||
Radu Adrian Stefan Ghinguleac (ROU), Dmitriy Mosyakin (RUS) | |||||
Fourth official | |||||
Vladimir Kazmenko (RUS) |
3 | England | Republic of Ireland | ||||
3 | Ukraine | Bosnia-Herzegovina | ||||
5 | Russia | Italy | ||||
5 | Northern Ireland | Czech Republic |