U21 EURO | Italy 1-0 Romania: Baldanzi and Desplanches secure victory | OneFootball

Italy scraped an opening 1-0 victory over Romania in the Under-21 European Championship thanks to Tommaso Baldanzi’s goal and Sebastiano Desplanches saving a penalty.

They are joint top of Group A with Spain, who needed a stoppage-time goal to beat hosts Slovakia 3-2.

As Cesare Casadei and Diego Coppola arrived late from the senior squad duties, they were rested, with Roma’s Tommaso Baldanzi, Luca Koleosho of Burnley and Leeds United striker Willy Gnonto forming a small but quick front three. Romania had five players in the squad who are at Italian clubs, including Udinese goalkeeper Razvan Sava, Lecce striker Rares Burnete and Milan Futuro defender Matteo Dutu.

SALON-DE-PROVENCE, FRANCE – JUNE 12: Carmine Nunziata, head coach of Italy U21, reacts during the 50th Tournoi Maurice Revello match between Italy U21 and Indonesia U20 at Stade Marcel Roustan on June 12, 2024 in Salon-de-Provence, France. (Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images)

Koleosho’s snapshot tested the goalkeeper from distance and Constantin Grameni had a scorcher charged down, until the Azzurrini took the lead with Baldanzi’s stop and ferocious left-foot finish from 12 yards on a Matteo Ruggeri pull-back. It came at the end of a lengthy passing move.

The first test for Palermo goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches was having his gloves stung by a long-range Umit Akdag rocket, but Koleosho was unlucky not to make it 2-0 on 43 minutes when his low drive thumped the upright from nine yards.

Instead, a penalty was awarded following a VAR review as Cher Ndour mistimed the clearance and instead kicked Cristian Ignat in the back of the ankle. Former Fiorentina youth academy player Louis Munteanu stepped up, but was denied by the excellent Desplanches.

FERRARA, ITALY – MARCH 26: Sebastiano Desplanches of Italy U21 during the UEFA Under21 EURO Qualifier match between Italy U21 and Turkey U21 at Stadio Paolo Mazza on March 26, 2024 in Ferrara, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Ianis Stoica gathered a cross from the left to turn in from six yards, but was flagged offside to rescue Italy, while Lorenzo Pirola’s free header flashed inches wide from a corner.

Baldanzi thought he’d made it 2-0 with a daisy-cutter from the edge of the area, but Sava just did enough to push it onto the inside of the upright and reacted quickly to stop the rebound crossing the line.

Romania had a big chance to equalise in stoppages when Desplanches was caught in no man’s land, but Zoran Mitrov’s lob was over the empty net.

Italy 1-0 Romania

Baldanzi 26 (I)

Italy U21: Desplanches; Zanotti (Kayode 86), Ghilardi, Pirola, Ruggeri; Fabbian, Prati, Ndour; Baldanzi (Pisilli 86), Koleosho (Ambrosino 63); Gnonto (Casadei 63)

Romania U21: Sava; Strata (Sirbu 61), Ignat (Perianu 46), M Ilie, Borza; Corbu (Popescu 46), Akdag, Grameni (Mitrov 88); Stoica (Burnete 61), Munteanu, R Ilie

Ref: Fotias (GRE)

Saved penalty: Munteanu 45+3 (R)