Rabiot-Da Cunha Fiasco: Bastoni Stuns France

Italy stunned the crowd at the Stade de Saint-Denis by tying the game in the 68th minute of their Europa League Matchday 3 clash. After Olise’s free kick gave the Bleus the lead—leaving Donnarumma frozen in his tracks—the Azzurri spent about ten minutes in serious trouble, nearly conceding a second goal to the Bleus.

In the 68th minute, however, the game was wide open again due to a costly collective error by Rabiot and Da Cunha: the Milan midfielder made a dangerous pass to the Como player in his own half, Da Cunha was beaten to the ball by Bastoni, who sprinted toward Maignan’s goal and beat him to make it 1-1.

Italy is holding its own in France, despite the obvious technical superiority of Zinedine Zidane’s team. The Azzurri had a great chance to take the lead in the 9th minute of the first half, but Moise Kean squandered it spectacularly. After a combination play by Frattesi and Sebastiano Esposito, the ball reached Kayode in the box, who found the completely unmarked Como striker: What looked like an easy tap-in was, however, squandered by the former Fiorentina player, who, just one meter from the wide-open goal, struck the ball terribly with his left foot, choking the shot and seeing it blocked by Maignan himself.