September 09, (THEWILL) — Sandro Tonali struck deep into stoppage time to give Italy a remarkable 5-4 victory over Israel in World Cup qualifying action, preserving manager Gennaro Gattuso’s flawless start to the campaign. The dramatic finale capped off a thrilling encounter that saw the lead change hands multiple times throughout the 90 minutes.
Italy endured a nightmare opening when Manuel Locatelli inadvertently turned Dan Biton’s cross into his own net after 16 minutes, following an earlier scare where Gianluigi Donnarumma nearly scored an own goal from a corner kick. Moise Kean restored parity five minutes before the interval with a precise curled finish past Daniel Peretz, ensuring the sides went into the break level.
The second half brought more drama when Manor Solomon’s brilliant individual work set up Dor Peretz to fire Israel back in front seven minutes after the restart. Kean responded within 90 seconds, finding the bottom corner from the penalty area’s edge, before Matteo Politano put Italy ahead for the first time following Mateo Retegui’s clever flick from a long throw-in.
Giacomo Raspadori appeared to have sealed the points in the 81st minute with a close-range finish after excellent team play, but Israel fought back twice in the final stages. Alessandro Bastoni’s unfortunate deflection from Ron Revivo’s cross levelled the scores before Dor Peretz headed home from a free-kick two minutes later to complete his brace.
Tonali would deliver the decisive blow in the first minute of added time, his low cross from the left wing deceiving the Israeli defence and catching goalkeeper Peretz off guard to nestle in the bottom corner. The victory maintains Italy’s perfect qualification record under Gattuso’s guidance.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
