Italy and Bulgaria drew 1-1 in the match valid for group C of qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, played at the ‘Artemio Franchi’ stadium in Florence. To the advantage of the blues with Chiesa on 16 ‘Iliev replies on 39’.
In the group standings, the Azzurri are first with 10 points, 4 more than Switzerland which, however, has two fewer games. The European champions will return to the field on Sunday evening in Bern against the Swiss.
The match
The Azzurri start immediately with their foot pressed on the accelerator and once they have passed the quarter of an hour of play, after a previous opportunity for Insigne, they find the advantage signed by Chiesa. The former viola, right in his old stadium, exchanges with Immobile and with a left-handed strike the goalkeeper scoring Italy’s first goal as a European champion. Mancini’s team seems to be in total control of the match, but at the end of the first half a lack of attention by Florenzi allows Despodov to escape to the left and put in the center for the rushing Iliev, who impacts with a left-handed and beats Donnarumma for the 1- 1. The Azzurri tried to react before the interval, with Insigne perfectly hooking a pass from Bonucci and trying the left diagonal, calling an attentive Georgiev to answer with his feet. Upon returning from the locker rooms, Italy increases the pressure again and in the 62nd minute touches the doubling again with Chiesa, this time rejected very well by the goalkeeper from a few steps away. Bulgaria seems to have their backs to the wall, but the Azzurri despite many efforts are unable to find the right opening to hurt. Mancini tries to shuffle the cards on the table by inserting fresh forces from the bench, but the results are hard to see. Even in the robust recovery, Italy did not break through and had to settle for a draw.