Player ratings: Moldova 0-2 Italy – Substitutes get Gattuso over the line

Italy left it late to secure a 2-0 victory away against Moldova in World Cup qualifying on Thursday evening, but are practically guaranteed to finish the group in second place following Norway’s 4-1 win over Estonia earlier in the night. 

It was a slower start than expected in front of goal for the Azzurri, who were unable to find the back of the net in the first half despite having 73% of the possession, 13 shots (only three on target), and 10 corners. 

It took until the 88th minute for the deadlock to be broken. Gianluca Mancini grabbed his second goal in as many games at international level with an assist from substitute Federico Dimarco. Another combination of subs combined for Italy’s second a few minutes later: That time it was Matteo Politano who provided the cross for Pio Esposito. 

You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.

Vicario 6 – Only had one save to make and only had to gather the ball once in what was a very quiet evening for him. Moldova only had one shot on target, one off target and one that was blocked. 

Bellanova 5 – Plenty of opportunities for him to get forwards with not a lot of defensive work to do, but didn’t see as much of the ball as Cambiaso on the other side of full-back. 

Mancini 7 – Should have opened the scoring after 25 minutes after some sloppy defending from a Riccardo Orsolini free-kick delivery. Made up for it with an excellent header to finally break the deadlock in the 88th minute. Two goals in two games for him at international level.

Buongiorno 6 – Not an awful lot for him to do on a defensive level: The whole Italy team only had to make four tackles between them across the 90 minutes. His 96% pass completion rate was the joint-highest on the pitch. 

Cambiaso 5 – He was involved plenty in the first half and showed lots of energy, but it was a largely frustrating evening for him and several other Italy players against a very stubborn, low-block-playing Moldova side. (Dimarco 6.5)

Orsolini 5.5 – Strong when it came to dribbling: He completed more runs with the ball than any other player. One or two decent crosses, one or two situations where he didn’t quite make the right decision. (Politano 6.5)

Cristante 6.5 – Italy always looked to build through him. Often the deepest-lying Azzurri player in possession, he saw more of the ball than anyone. During the first half, he had 12% of the game’s possession on his own. Came close with a testing shot from the edge of the area early on.

Tonali 6 – Wasn’t the easiest game for him to impress. Moldova didn’t have much possession, and often had 11 players behind the ball, which didn’t give Tonali much room to show his strength, power or drive. Didn’t put much of a foot wrong on the ball. His two tackles were the most of any Italy player. 

Zaccagni 5 – Didn’t have much luck down the left flank. Wasn’t afforded much space to run at defenders with the way that Moldova set up. (Frattesi 5)

Scamacca 5 – A lovely early flick that almost resulted in a Raspadori goal after five minutes, but otherwise, was not a big enough presence in the area for Italy and was unable to register a shot on target across his 65 minutes. (Retegui 6)

Raspadori 5 – Wasn’t clinical enough with the half-chances that he was presented with before going off. (Esposito 7)