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FT, Armenia 1-3 Italy: Belotti double continues Azzurri winning streak

FT, Armenia 1-3 Italy: Belotti double continues Azzurri winning streak

  • Apollo Heyes
After four victories in the first four games for Roberto Mancini’s Italy, the Azzurri moved into this game hoping to extend their unbeaten streak and secure a qualification spot for next summer’s European Championship, especially after the disappointing absence from last summer’s World Cup. This evening Mancini and Italy secure that goal, after a 3-1 win over Armenia kept them on top of Group J with 15 points.
 
Initially the Azzurri fell 1-0 down after an impressive counterattack goal scored by Alexander Karapetyan (who later was sent off after a second yellow card before the end of the first half), but Andrea Belotti helped Italy equalised before half time. After a cagey start to the second half, Roma’s 23-year-old midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini scored his first goal for the national team to put Italy ahead, with Belotti scoring his second only minutes later to close out the match. The 25-year-old striker was then denied a hattrick after a goal was correctly disallowed for offside, a disappointing call for the Torino captain.
 
The win allows Italy to smile after an anxious first half performance and lets the Azzurri look ahead to their next game on Sunday this week against Finland. Marco Verratti will be suspended from this game after receiving a yellow card in this game for a poor foul.
 
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