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Midfielder David Fratessi scored twice as Italy beat hosts Ukraine 2-1 in a European Championship 2024 qualifier.
Spalletti’s first match in charge saw Italy draw 1-1 with North Macedonia last Saturday, so the pressure was on the former Napoli coach to secure victory at the San Siro.
Italy are now second in the group with seven points, ahead of Ukraine on goal difference, and have a game in hand compared to their other rivals in the group.
England is at the top with 13 points.
“There’s been a lot of pressure in recent weeks and I’ve had to understand a lot in a short period of time,” Spalletti told official Italian broadcaster RAI.
“We have to be happy because it’s not always possible not to get a single cross from our opponents,” he said, despite a tough win.
Italy opened the scoring after 12 minutes through Fradesi, Mattia Zagani collected the ball from the left and calmly passed it to the midfielder, who scored from inside the area.
The Inter Milan player scored his second goal in the 29th minute, taking advantage of a rebound shot and calmly firing the ball into the net from close range.
Fratesi has only featured as a substitute for his new side Inter Milan so far this season after joining from Sassuolo last July.
“I still have a lot of growing to do. It’s only natural that I won’t be in the starting line-up for the inter course I joined recently, but these tournaments will help me grow a lot,” he said.
Ukraine reduced the gap four minutes before the break when Andriy Yarmolenko turned into an empty net from close range, raising tensions among the home fans.
The visitors pressed hard for an equalizer after the start of the second half, but they created half-chances that the Italian defense managed to win.
Manuel Locatelli almost scored for Italy with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar after earlier efforts had fumbled into the penalty area.
“In the last minutes, they (Ukraine) sent a lot of attackers because losing by a big margin doesn’t change much for them, although we have to be better to score the third and fourth goals when we can,” Spalletti said.
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