Italy 2-0 Spain: EURO 2016 Round of 16 Report

Italy set up a Euro 2016 Quarter-Final tie with Germany on Saturday after beating the holders Spain 2-0 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Monday evening.

Giorgio Chiellini prodded Italy in front just after the half-hour mark, before Graziano Pelle secured the victory when he lashed past David De Gea in second half injury time.

Antonio Conte made seven changes to his Azzurri side that were defeated 1-0 by the Republic of Ireland in their final Group E encounter. Gianluigi Buffon, Chiellini, Marco Parolo, Daniele De Rossi, Emanuele Giaccherini, Pelle and Eder all came into the Italian side for a repeat of the European Championship Final of 2012.

By contrast, Vicente Del Bosque named an unchanged Spain side for a fourth game in a row at this summer’s tournament.

Italy enjoyed the better of the early play, and engineered their first real chance after eight minutes, when Alessandro Florenzi’s free-kick from the left was met by Pelle’s downward header, but De Gea dived to his left to superbly turn the ball past the post.

Spain were struggling to break through their opponents, and the closest they came to threatening Italy’s solid backline came through Cesc Fabregas, though his shot was charged down, while Andres Iniesta arrowed a tame effort into Buffon’s grasp.

Conte’s men took a deserved lead after 33 minutes, courtesy of Chiellini, who reacted sharpest to bundle the ball into the net from six yards after De Gea could only palm Eder’s driven free-kick.

Graziano Pelle of Italy scores past Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea to make it 2-0. Photo: Mark Leech/Offside

The final chance of the half came though Giaccherini on the stroke of half-time. The midfielder cut inside and curled a right-footed angled effort towards goal, only for De Gea to tip over to safety.

As proceedings got back underway, Spain had a golden chance to level five minutes after the interval. David Silva’s in-swinging free-kick from the right fell to Alvaro Morata, but the striker planted a header straight at Buffon.

Up the other end, Pelle’s delightful ball led to Eder breaking through on goal with only De Gea to beat, though the goalkeeper denied Italy a second by superbly thwarting the subsequent effort.

With time running out for La Roja, Iniesta and Gerald Pique forced the veteran 38-year-old Buffon into two smart saves from fierce attempts at goal.

Spain frantically searched for the equaliser that would take the game to extra time, however Pelle had the final say in the game as it entered stoppage time as he connected with Matteo Darmian’s deflected cross to swivel and smash beyond De Gea.

Man of the Match: Graziano Pelle (Italy)

The Italian centre-forward proved indispensable to his country, causing problems to the Spanish defence throughout the game.

The 30-year-old, who plays his club football in the Premier League with Southampton, was a constant threat, and fully deserved his goal to cap off a fine individual performance.

Right from the start, Pelle put Spain to the sword, and was only denied an earlier goal by De Gea. He epitomised the spirit of his team-mates by adding another goal to his European Championship collection.

What’s Next? Italy’s reward for beating Spain is a quarter-final tie against Germany in Bordeaux on Saturday night, while Spain will head home following their exit, unable to successfully defend their crown.