Five goals, 34 shots on target and 90 minutes camped around the opposition penalty area. Italy were handed a boost to their World Cup hopes, as they thrashed Estonia by five goals to nil in Bergamo. It’s a sign that the Azzurri will compete until the end. Norway may still be clear on points, but the goal difference deficit has been slashed (from 12 to 7 behind the group leaders). The Azzurri will, of course, need to win all of their remaining games, starting with Monday’s game against Israel in Debrecen, Hungary. But the Italy we watched in Bergamo is clearly a side with dreams and hunger. After a fairly one-sided first half, which ended goalless, the Azzurri turned on the jets after the break, opening the scoring through Kean and then extending their lead through goals from Raspadori, Bastoni and a sensational Mateo Retegui, who scored two and assisted one. A move to Saudi Arabia has not clouded his eye for goal.

“I have to thank the boys for this performance and the way they’ve conducted themselves in the past few days,” said a very happy Gennaro Gattuso. “They’ve worked hard, and we played well tonight. Our aim is to make people happy and to bring some enthusiasm back to our fans. The boys know that I like my teams to fight hard, even allowing for some mistakes, which can happen in football.” Thoughts now turn to Monday’s game against Israel, who beat Moldova 4-0: “The first game is over, now we focus on the next one, which will be difficult.”

In Bergamo, they’re used to watching Mateo Retegui hit the back of the net, and in front of his old fans, he was brilliant: “We showed a lot of hunger and that we want to fight and to maintain this form. We put in a good performance and played some great football. It was great to be back here, it felt really good. We had a great season last year.” His connection with Kean is clear to see: “It was my first time playing with Moise; this is a great group. We need to keep this up.”

SHOTS. Both Kean and Retegui were named in Gattuso’s first starting XI since taking charge of the Azzurri, with Politano and Zaccagni out wide, and Barelli and Tonali in the centre of the park. It was more a 3-3-4 than a 4-4-2, as Dimarco often joined the midfield while Italy were in possession, and he had two long-range efforts go off target in the first ten minutes. However, the first chance of the game had fallen to Politano in the third minute, as he latched on to Kean’s flick on and sent his effort just wide. Italy were well on top. Kean and Retegui linked up well in the box, but the former Atalanta man fired wide. Then, Hein produced some stunning goalkeeping, first to deny Zaccagni and then Dimarco on the rebound. There was a scare for the hosts in the 25th minute, but Di Lorenzo headed clear from a corner that could have been dangerous. But, the vast majority of the action was at the other end. Italy were finding some joy down the wings: Politano headed over from a Dimarco cross before Kean blazed over from a good position. Tonali had a go from a Retegui cross, the latter than saw his header saved brilliantly by Hein. After the first 45 minutes, the stats read 15 shots on target for the Azzurri, none for Estonia, but 0-0 on the scoreboard.

GOAL FEST. No changes at the break: one team attacked, the other defended. Hein did brilliantly to keep out a Tonali volley, and then had no issues dealing with a Kean header. That was the prelude to the goal, however. Dimarco crossed it in, Retegui flicked it on with a backheel, Kean headed in at the back post (58’). It was the Fiorentina forward’s eighth Italy goal, and two minutes later, he could’ve extended his tally to nine. But the post said no. After a double chance for Zaccagni, Retegui doubled the Azzurri’s lead, turning home from Politano’s ball in. It wasn’t long before the hosts had a third, as substitute Raspadori headed home to finish a sweeping move started by Di Lorenzo and Politano, his teammates at Napoli until a few weeks ago. The 22,000 spectators at the Stadio di Bergamo were celebrating, meanwhile Gattuso sent on Locatelli, Orsolini and the debutant Francesco Pio Esposito. Mateo Retegui made it a brace with a header from Cambiaso’s cross, and Batoni netted Italy’s fifth, also with a header. The fans began to chant Gattuso’s name, and he thanked them for their support. On Monday, the Azzurri go in search of their first away win of the group stage when they take on Israel in Debrecen.

ITALY 5-0 ESTONIA

ITALY (4-4-2): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Dimarco (66’ Cambiaso); Barella, Tonali (75’ Locatelli), Zaccagni (66’ Raspadori), Politano (75’ Orsolini); Kean (84’ Esposito), Retegui. Subs.: Meret, Vicario, Bellanova, Gatti, Mancini, Rovella, Frattesi, Esposito. Coach: Gattuso.

ESTONIA (4-2-3-1): Hein; Schjonning-Larsen, Paskotsi (80’ Tamm), Kuusk, Saliste; Palumets, Shein (80’ Soomets); Kristal (66’ Ainsalu) Kait, Sinyavskiy (66’ Saarma); Sappinen (80’Anier). Subs.: Igonen, Vallner, Peetson, Yakovlev, Miller, Tammik, Tur. Coach: Henn.

Goals: 58’ Kean (I), 69’ and 89’ Retegui (I), 71’ Raspadori (I), 90’+2 Bastoni (I)

Referee: Pinheiro (Portugal). Assistants: Jesus and Maia (Portugal). Fourth official: Gonçalves (Portugal). VAR: Martins (Portugal). AVAR: Esteves (Portugal)

Notes: 22,559 spectators. Booked: Kristal (E), Bastoni (I)

RESULTS AND STANDINGS IN GROUP I

Moldova 0-4 Israel

ITALY 5-0 Estonia

Standings: Norvegia 12 points (4 matches played), Israele 9 (4), ITALIA 6 (3), Estonia 3 (5), Moldova 0 (4)