From Milan to Bari, where Italy built on their 2-1 victory over Ukraine with a 4-0 success over Malta in front of over 56,000 fans at the Stadio San Nicola. The Azzurri’s second consecutive win – their third in the group and tenth in ten matches against Malta – has seen them take another step towards qualifying for EURO 2024. Spalletti’s men sit second on ten points alongside a Ukraine side who beat North Macedonia 2-0 earlier on in the day but over whom they have a game in hand. Italy will take on table-topping England at Wembley on Tuesday, but qualification is likely to be decided in the game against the Ukrainians on 20 November in Leverkusen.

Jack Bonaventura opened the scoring with his first Italy goal and, in doing so, celebrated his return to the Azzurri fold in style. Spalletti’s side added to their lead thanks to a Berardi brace and a late fourth from Frattesi, who currently has the goalscoring touch after his double against Ukraine. All in all, it was a great evening after a difficult week.

THE MATCH. Spalletti had to make do without several players, especially in attack. With Immobile and Retegui already not in the squad due to injury, Chiesa, Zaniolo and Zaccagni also weren’t available to play tonight. The Head Coach thus opted for a front trio consisting of Raspadori, Berardi and Kean, while Bonaventura was selected for his first Italy game in three years. The other mezzala was Barella, while Locatelli kept his place in the middle of the park after his excellent performance against Ukraine. Joining Gianluca Mancini in defence in front of Donnarumma were Inter players Bastoni, Darmian and Dimarco.

Italy knew how important scoring early would be and made a strong start. After Locatelli had fired wide, Mancini came inches away from opening the scoring, hitting the bar with a header from a Raspadori corner (5’). Instead, it was Jack Bonaventura who bagged the first goal, with the Fiorentina man letting fly with a fine right-footed strike that flew into the top corner from just inside the box. It was his first goal in 16 Italy appearances and fifth since the start of the season. The match wasn’t being played at a particularly high tempo, and Malta weren’t giving Italy much space to play in. But then came a moment of inspiration from Domenico Berardi, whose lovely left-footed curler bounced off the inside of the post and into the net on the stroke of half-time. Another fantastic finish in a first half that was otherwise largely unspectacular.

Despite being two behind, Malta continued to defend in the hope of preventing further Azzurri goals. Meanwhile, Spalletti moved Kean to the centre of the front three, with Raspadori moving out to the left. The decision paid off: the Napoli attacker progressed down the wing and played in a cross that ended up at the feet of Berardi, who fired home first time to bag his first Italy brace. Immediately afterwards, the Sassuolo man left the pitch to applause as he was replaced by Orsolini. Barella also made way for his club teammate Frattesi, with Scamacca and Udogie (his Italy debut) also entering the fray in the final 15 minutes. Off the bench and on the scoresheet: in stoppage time, Frattesi made it 4-0 and, in doing so, bagged his third goal in two games following his brace against Ukraine in Milan.

On Tuesday, Italy will take to the pitch at Wembley, where they were crowned European Champions two and a half years ago. At stake are another precious three points, but the feeling is EURO 2024 qualification will be decided in November.

CALENDAR, RESULTS AND GROUP C STANDINGS

Today: Italy 4-0 Malta
Today: Ukraine 2-0 North Macedonia
17 October: England vs. Italy
17 October: Malta vs. Ukraine
17 November: Italy vs. North Macedonia
17 November: England vs. Malta
20 November: Ukraine vs. Malta
20 November: North Macedonia vs. England

*Standings: England 13 points (5), Italy (5) and Ukraine 10 (6), North Macedonia 7 (6), Malta 0 (6)

*number of games played in brackets