Italy vs Albania Highlights: Italy made a fast comeback after conceding the fastest goal ever in EURO’s | Italy 2-1 Albania

Italy started their path to defend the title by facing Albania at Signal Iduna Park Stadium, Dortmund. Azzurri were stunned when Nedim Bajrami took Albania to an early lead so early that it was later dubbed as the fastest goal ever scored in the Euro with only 23 seconds.

Luciano Spalletti’s squad did not lose their nerve even after a blitz storm from Albania. Italy responded well by scoring two goals inside six minutes to overturn the table. Alessandro Bastoni took Italy to level in the 11th and Nicolò Barella put them ahead, five minutes later. The score line stood until the final whistle.

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1′ – GOAL: Albania took an early lead in the first minutes. Just only 23 seconds after kick-off, Nedim Bajirami fired the ball into Gianluigi Donnarumma’s top bin to take his country a lead over the defending champions.

2′ – MISS: Lorenzo Pellegrini responded with his attempt from inside the box but the ball still went wide from Albanian’s left post.

11′ – GOAL: Italy found the target this time. Alessandro Bastoni leveled the scoreline after pounding Pellegrini’s deep cross to the second post.

16′ – GOAL: The defending champions have turned the table around in only a matter of 15 minutes with Nicolò Barella taking them a lead for the first time in the game.

33′ – SAVE: Thomas Strakosha prevented Italy from scoring more goals as he saved Davide Frattesi’s attempt after receiving a well-measured throughpass from Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca.

40 ‘ SAVE: Another brilliant save by Strakosha which again involved Scamacca, denying a scoring chance from a point-blank range.

45′ MISS: Pellegrini’s header couldn’t find the target when he already found a perfect pass from Federico Chiesa.

60′ MISS: Federico Chiesa found the ball inside the box who later fired a first-time shot but the ball just went wide.

80′ SAVE: Federico Dimarco fired a hard shot towards Albania’s net which was found by Strakosha who stood in the way.

90′ MISS: Mario Mitaj missed the target as his curler couldn’t find the back of the net at the very edge of the game.

Player of the Match: Nicolò Barella (Italy)

Nicolò Barella was Italy’s best performer tonight as he contributed not only to the goal but also his effort for his side’s domination throughout the match.

Key Moment:

Alessandro Bastoni’s leveler for Italy in the first half changed the course of the game tonight.

Key Stats

Bajrami’s strike at the beginning of the game was dubbed as the fastest goal scored in the history of the Euro which took only 23 seconds. On the other hand, Spalletti has become the oldest coach in the Euro being 65 years and 100 days old.

Conclusion:

Italy showed Albania that they were a Euro royalty. Despite being stunned by an early goal, Azzurri’s mentality did not flinch a bit and responded in the classiest possible way.

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