Analysis – Sandro Tonali Brings Italy 1-0 Win Over Belgium

Sandro Tonali’s goal in the 11th minute brought Italy on top of UEFA Nations League A Group 2. His positioning helped him take advantage of Belgium’s back line shape. An incursion through the right with, followed by an individual mistake. Those were the elements that shaped up Italy’s goal.

So let’s break down Sandro Tonali’s goal, how Belgium got overrun on the right wing and how Italy brought home the win!

Italy went one-on-one against Belgium’s back-four in the middle. Sandro Tonali, Mateo Retegui, Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi formed the front line in the 11th minute leading up to the goal. Although they played with a back five, Belgium’s fullback was dragged out of the compact line by Giovanni Di Lorenzo advancing on that wing.

Italy went one-on-one against Belgium’s back-four in the middle. Sandro Tonali, Mateo Retegui, Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi formed the front line in the 11th minute leading up to the goal. Although they played with a back five, Belgium’s fullback was dragged out of the compact line by Giovanni Di Lorenzo advancing on that wing.

Nicolo Barella, playing in his number 10 role, was, of course, as any veritable number 10 on the side of the ball. He drifted to the right and formed a triangle with Di Lorenzo and Cambiaso, who sat glued to the line.

Di Lorenzo combines on the right wing with his number 10, Barella, and sprints for Barella’s lobbed pass. He outruns Arthur Theate with an overlapping run, which surprised the defender. Barella sends a lobbed pass over Theate, which, if he was a bit more careful, he would have been able to intercept, or at least catch up with Di Lorenzo.

To adapt and try to close this now open space exploited by Di Lorenzo, the entire back line needed to shift left.

So now, we arrive at the following situation. One player from Belgium’s back five was overrun, and the remaining four needs to shift to cover the free player on the side. This leaves Italy briefly with a numerical advantage.

Di Lorenzo’s cross was luckily deflected, and Sandro Tonali was alone in front of the box to nudge it in and bring the three points. Here I believe that the most important part of the goal has to be Di Lorenzo’s penetrating run, as well as Barella’s perfect pass. Sandro Tonali’s positioning was also important, as he could take advantage of the created opportunity.