Italy defeats France 3-1 at San Siro in UEFA Nations League

Italy defeated France 3-1 at San Siro on Thursday ending a 64-year home winless run against Les Bleus and taking the lead in the group in the UEFA Nations League, according to reports from A Bola.

France opened the scoring after ten minutes when Michael Olise capitalized on a glaring clearance mistake by Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, according to Jornal de Notícias and match coverage from Sport TV.

The hosts equalized in the 26th minute when Nicolò Cambiaghi surged down the left flank and set up Francesco Pio Esposito for a simple finish in front of the home supporters, as detailed by Sport TV.

Di Marco 👉 Frattesi 👉 Reviravolta da Itália no San Siro 🇮🇹🔥#sporttvportugal #NATIONSnaSPORTTV #UEFANationsLeague #Itália #França pic.twitter.com/jNAitjGzhu

— Post by @sporttvportugal on X

Italy wasted an opportunity to take the lead just past the hour mark when Sebastiano Esposito missed a penalty kick wide of the target in the 60th minute, according to Jornal de Notícias.

That miss proved immaterial three minutes later. Davide Frattesi turned the match around in the 63rd minute by converting a cross from Federico Dimarco, as reported by Sport TV.

Italy defeats France 3-1 at San Siro in UEFA Nations League — Photo: Record

Sporting midfielder Issa Doumbia entered the match as a substitute in the 73rd minute, shortly before Dayot Upamecano fouled Vergara inside the penalty area, according to Sport TV.

Francesco Pio Esposito stepped up to take the subsequent spot-kick in the 75th minute and scored his second goal of the match to secure the 3-1 final scoreline, as verified by Jornal de Notícias.

Italy vs France (3-1) Extended Highlights — SPORTS EXTRA

France played the match without Kylian Mbappé, who suffered a right thigh strain during training and sat out the fixture, according to Record.

“Ele sentiu um desconforto e não vamos correr nenhum risco. Não está contente, gostaria de jogar amanhã, mas esperemos contar com ele no domingo”, antecipou Zinédine Zidane, as reported by Record.

Following the defeat, Zidane rejected suggestions of a crisis and pointed to lessons learned during the physical duels, telling A Bola: “Houve pontos positivos, especialmente no primeiro tempo, em que nos devíamos ter concentrado naquilo que fizemos bem. Depois disso, fizemos coisas menos boas.”

Italy and France lead the group with ten points each, followed by Belgium with nine points and Turkey with zero points, according to Jornal de Notícias.