Nicolò Barella and Lorenzo Insigne scored a goal each to give Italy a 2-1 win over Belgium and a spot in the European Championship semifinals.
Romelu Lukaku kept his team in the game with a penalty right before halftime but the Belgians missed further chances to equalize in the second half as Italy's defenders celebrated their stops like the offense celebrated the goals.
Barella put Italy in the lead in the 31st minute when Jan Vertonghen failed to properly clear the ball. Marco Verratti passed to Barella, who eluded two Belgium defenders before sending it in off the far post.
https://twitter.com/Sachk0/status/1411068230005788673?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwInsigne got the second in the 44th when he put a curling shot inside the far top corner after skipping past one defender and facing two more.
Belgium got its penalty when Giovanni Di Lorenzo pushed Jeremy Doku shortly before halftime. Lukaku then made it 2-1 by sending his shot down the middle.
It was only the second goal Italy has conceded at the tournament.
Italy will next play Spain in the semifinals on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium in London. The Spanish defeated Switzerland on penalties in St. Petersburg.
In the second half, Leonardo Spinazzola just did enough to deny Lukaku on the line with what seemed to be a certain equalizer when Kevin De Bruyne played the ball to the far post. Spinazzola, who was kissed by his grateful teammates, was later carried off on a stretcher with a leg injury.
De Bruyne started the match after recovering from a left ankle injury, but Eden Hazard remained out with a leg injury.
Belgium played as it had in the 1-0 win over Portugal with defense a priority. A back three quickly became a back five whenever Italy had the ball as Thorgan Hazard and Thomas Meunier retreated to help out.
Italy had an early goal ruled out for offside by video review early in the match.
Belgium coach Roberto Martínez brought on Dries Mertens and Nacer Chadli with about 20 minutes remaining. Chadli nearly set up an equalizer within seconds of coming on, but his cross was too high for Lukaku and it fell behind Thorgan Hazard.
Chadli then had to go off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury after being on the field for only about five minutes. Spinazzola followed in the 79th after he pulled up sharply while chasing the ball.
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/football/uefa-euros-2020-italy-defeats-belgium/0a583657-da53-430b-8fe1-3c90ddcb52f2
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