Euro 2024, Italy edge past Albania 2-1: Key stats
Holders Italy beat Albania 2-1 in their 2024 UEFA European Championship Group B opener at BVB Stadion Dortmund. Just 23 seconds into the contest, Nedim Bajrami handed Albania a dream start by scoring the opener. Italy responded with two quick-fire goals from Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella. The second half was more subdued as Italy got the job done. Here are further details.
Fastest goal in the competition's history
As per Opta, Bajrami's goal after 23 seconds for Albania against Italy is the fastest goal ever scored at the UEFA European Championship finals.
Three quick goals in the first half
After just 23 seconds on the clock, it was Bajrami, who pouned on a loose ball and fired the ball into the top corner. 10 minutes later, Italy equalized via Bastoni. Luca Pellegrini's deep cross was met by Bastoni with a precise header. Five minutes later, Barella made it 2-1 for the defending champions. A failed clearance saw Barella score with a first-time strike.
Italy dominated the first half
After going 2-1 up, Italy dominated the scenes. Gianlucci Scamacca's throughball unleashed Davide Frattesi but Albania's goalkeeper denied the latter. Scamacca had a shot saved after being teed up by Pellegrini. Italy had 1.47 expected goals and had 25 touches in the opponent's box.
What happened in the second half?
Albania failed to create much and were in Italy's shadows. Albania lacked the ambition to go forward and make things count. The second half didn't live up to the fireworks. Italy did well to keep Albania at bay. Federico Chiesa had the best moment in the second half and his left-footed strike just whiskered wide off the post. Meanwhile, Albania had a late chance.
Riccardo makes history for Italy
Riccardo (22 years and 27 days) became the second-youngest Italy defender to play a match in European Championship history, after Paolo Maldini (19 years and 350 days, on 10th June 1988 against Germany).
Second goal for Barella at the Euros
Among the players currently in the Italian national team, Barella has scored the most goals for the Azzurri (10). He registered his second Euros goal, having scored against Belgium in the 2020 event.
Key feats attained by Italy
As per Squawka, Italy came from behind to win after conceding the first goal at the European Championship for the first time since 2004 against Bulgaria. They had failed to win any of the previous six. Meanwhile, Italy are unbeaten in their last 10 games in the European Championship. It's their longest unbeaten streak in the competition (since at least 1992).
Here are the match stats
Italy had 1.60 expected goals compared to 0.44 from Albania. Italy made 17 attempts with five shots on target. They also had 34 touches in the opposition box. Italy had 69% ball possession. Albania produced one shot on target from 7 attempts.
