Esposito double sinks France as Italy hand Zidane first defeat
Italy fought back to beat France 3-1 at San Siro and seize top spot in their Nations League group, while Harry Kane marked his record 126th England cap with the winner against Croatia.
By Vanessa Lopez ·
Francesco Pio Esposito scored twice as Italy overturned an early deficit to beat France 3-1 at San Siro on Thursday, inflicting a first defeat on Zinedine Zidane as head coach of the visitors and sending the Azzurri top of their Nations League group.
France arrived in Milan without injured star attackers Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, but they made an electric start in pouring rain. Desire Doue hit the side netting, first-time captain Adrien Rabiot tested Gianluigi Donnarumma and Lucas Da Cunha sent a rasping half-volley narrowly wide before the breakthrough arrived in the 10th minute.
The opener was gifted to the visitors when Donnarumma passed the ball straight to Michael Olise, who skipped past a defender and fired home his fifth goal in five Nations League games, a tally bettered only by England captain Harry Kane's seven.
Italy levelled in the 26th minute with their first chance of the match, Esposito applying a deft touch to a cutback from Nicolo Cambiaghi after the winger drove to the byline. Sebastiano Esposito, the striker's older brother, nearly completed a quickfire comeback two minutes later but was denied by a sharp save from Mike Maignan, while Bradley Barcola struck the foot of the far post with a curling effort before the break.
The end-to-end contest continued after half-time. Donnarumma tipped a fierce Rayan Cherki strike onto the post, and Maignan produced a point-blank save from Cambiaghi at the other end. Italy then won a penalty when Malo Gusto tripped Cambiaghi, but Sebastiano Esposito hammered his spot kick wide on the hour mark.
The hosts needed only three more minutes to move in front, as Davide Frattesi drilled in a cross from Federico Dimarco moments after the Inter Milan wing-back came off the bench. Substitute Antonio Vergara was then tripped by Dayot Upamecano for a second Italy penalty, and this time Francesco Pio Esposito stepped up to drive the ball into the bottom corner.
The victory lifted Italy to 10 points in Group A1, level with France but above them on head-to-head record, while Belgium sit third on nine points after handing rock-bottom Turkiye a fifth straight defeat. Belgium host Italy and Turkiye travel to France in the final round of group games on Sunday.
The result also continued a strong start to Roberto Mancini's second spell as Italy coach, extending the team's unbeaten run to four matches and delivering their first home win over France since 1962.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Kane celebrated his record 126th England cap by scoring the winner from the penalty spot in a 2-1 victory over Croatia at Wembley that secured qualification for the Nations League last eight. The 33-year-old Bayern Munich forward sent his 64th-minute kick straight down the middle as goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic dived to his left, netting his 92nd international goal in front of an 80,400-strong crowd after the hosts had conceded a sloppy equaliser five minutes earlier.
Kane began the night as the centre of attention, receiving a commemorative token from former goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who had held the England appearance record since 1989, when he surpassed Bobby Moore's 108 caps.
