Italy coach Mancini happy with victory over Northern Ireland | OneFootball

Italy coach Roberto Mancini was happy after their 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat of Northern Ireland.

Sassuolo striker Domenico Berardi and Lazio's Ciro Immobile struck the goals for Italy.

“After five months, the first half was excellent and we should've scored more goals," Mancini told RAI Sport.

“We'll have to review the second half with the team, because we must do better than that.

“The first half was perfect, pretty much, we should've had more goals and were moving the ball quickly.

“Perhaps we started to take a few too many touches after the break and the ball moved slowly, but that can happen after five months of not seeing each other."

Manuel Locatelli of Sassuolo shone in midfield.

“Immobile and Locatelli did really well, we could've won by a bigger margin in the first half, but we knew Northern Ireland were a physical side who could cause us problems. We made too many mistakes.

“The ball can go long at times, especially when we're pressed like that and the opposition are defending in numbers."

On Immobile's goal, he added: “It's fundamental for a striker to score goals. We're happy for him and hope all the forwards get goals."