Italy coast to victory against NI in U19 Euros
Holders Italy were too strong for a young Northern Ireland side
- Published
Northern Ireland suffered a 3-0 defeat by defending champions Italy in their second game of the Uefa European Under-19 Championship.
It was a dominant display by Italy with Kevin Zeroli breaking the deadlock in the 15th minute.
Francesco Camarda made it 2-0 deep into first-half additional time before scoring his second of the evening just after the restart.
Host nation Northern Ireland play their final game of Group A against Norway on Sunday at Seaview.
Dominant display by Italy
Camarda scored a fine second goal for Italy late in the first half
Bernardo Corradi's side made a bright start to the game and took the lead when Simone Pafundi’s high pass from the edge of the box was headed on by Aaron Ciammaglichella and into the path of Zeroli.
Pierce Charles did get a touch on his resulting strike, but it wasn’t enough to stop it from finding the top corner.
Shortly after Ciammaglichella was in action again when his effort was deflected out of play by Joel Thompson, with the away side unable to double their lead through the resulting corner.
Northern Ireland’s best chance of the first half came in the 27th minute when George Goodman’s shot was denied by the outstretched foot of stopper Renato Marin.
It was 2-0 to Italy after Camarda intercepted a slack backpass by Goodman and travelled forward before slotting past Charles.
Camarda caps off fine win
It didn’t take the away side long to further extend their advantage as just three minutes after the restart half-time substitute Vittorio Magni found space on the right channel and sent a low cross into the box, which Camarda converted from close range.
Pafundi failed to test stopper Charles with his free-kick from a dangerous position before Lorenzo Anghele's strike was narrowly wide as Italy continued to dominate possession.
However, it was Northern Ireland who nearly scored in the final ten minutes with Braiden Graham's shot from a tight angle impressively palmed away by Marin.
The victory secures the holders' passage to the knockout stages, with Northern Ireland needing a win against Norway to have any chance of progressing.