Italy progressed to the quarter-finals at the expense of a brave Austria side thanks to extra-time goals by substitutes Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina at Wembley Stadium.
Italy, aiming for a national-record 31 games unbeaten, started the brighter with the impressive Leonardo Spinazzola setting up the first presentable chance for Nicolò Barella, whose drive was kept out by Daniel Bachmann’s outstretched boot.
Marko Arnautović fired over as Austria offered a counterattacking threat but the Azzurri went closest before the interval when Ciro Immobile’s long-range rocket clattered the post.
Roberto Mancini’s side were less fluent in the second half and could have fallen behind twice, first when Marcel Sabitzer’s effort deflected just wide and then when Arnautović’s fine header was ruled out for offside.
The Azzurri made the most of that let-off, albeit in extra time, when Chiesa prodded Spinazzola’s cross back past Konrad Laimer and rifled his finish across Bachmann.
Fellow replacement Pessina then pounced following a goalmouth scramble to rifle in the second and that proved decisive after Austrian sub Sasa Kalajdzic’s clever header from a corner set up a tense finale.
Post-Match Reaction :
Matteo Pessina, Italy midfielder: “I am still trying to take in my goal against Wales, so imagine how this one feels. I will remember it for the rest of my career. In this team everybody can score and this is our main strength – we are a great group.”
Leonardo Spinazzola, Italy defender: “I’m happy with the victory – I think we played as a real team tonight. We defended all together when we needed to. After 90 minutes, we said that we just had to improve the quality of the final passes and finally the goals arrived in extra time.”
David Alaba, Austria captain: “It’s not easy to put that into words. We can be proud of ourselves, Austria can be proud of us. We gave everything but in the end we weren’t rewarded for our performance. That’s really tough to take.”
Sasa Kalajdzic, Austria forward: “I think the whole of Austria can be proud of this team. It came down to small things that decided the game. My goal was great – I don’t think my head has ever been so close to the ground.”
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