Italy 2-2 Romania: Florin Andone’s late equaliser denies under-strength Azzurri

Published:
23:02 GMT, 17 November 2015

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Updated:
08:30 GMT, 18 November 2015

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Italy conceded a late goal to draw 2-2 with Romania in an international friendly on Tuesday, as doubts remained about their title-winning credentials ahead of Euro 2016.

The home side fell behind to Bogdan Stancu’s eighth-minute opener during an uninspiring first half, but equalised after 55 minutes when Claudio Marchisio scored a penalty after Eder had been brought down by Dragos Grigore.

Florin Andone celebrates scoring the equaliser for Romania against Italy on Tuesday night

Romania have not lost since June 2014 and, despite going 2-1 behind when substitute Manolo Gabbiadini scored his first goal for Italy with a close-range header in the 65th, they extended their unbeaten run when Florin Andone equalised in the 88th minute after an error from goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

The visitors, urged on by pockets of Romanian supporters around the ground, poured forward in the dying stages as they looked to secure an unlikely victory, but a shell-shocked Italy held on to avoid their second defeat in a week.

Andone pounced on an error from goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu to grab a late equaliser for the visitors

The Italian defence was exposed in Friday’s 3-1 friendly loss away to Belgium, and Antonio Conte’s side were again uncertain from the start.

Gianluigi Buffon made a smart save to thwart Gabriel Torje early on but the Azzurri fell behind moments later when Stancu stole the ball after a defensive mix-up between Matteo Darmian and Andrea Barzagli on the edge of the box and rifled home.

Italy coach Antonio Conte can’t hide his frustration after a lackluste display by the Azzurri

Italy have often been drab and uninspiring under Conte’s leadership and, without midfielders Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi and Marco Verratti, they appeared to lack the tools to take control of the game and to fashion dangerous chances.

The contest was transformed in the frantic 10-minute spell at the start of the second half with Marchisio’s penalty and Gabbiadini’s maiden international goal.

However, Andone’s late equaliser — coming after Sirigu had parried Vlad Chiriches’s header into the forward’s path — was a fitting end to a troubling international week for Italy.