Wales played Italy in their final game of the UEFA Euro 2020 group stages.

Both teams knew a win would mean topping the group, but both already qualified to the knockout phase.

Emerson came close to give Italy the lead but his shot was not enough to beat the Welsh goalkeeper in the 15th minute.

A couple of minutes later, Rafael Tolói had space down the wing to cross into the box for Matteo Pessina to meet the ball but his attempt was saved by Danny Ward.

Matteo Pessina was more fortunate with a goal in the 39th minute. Marco Verratti won a freekick from Joe Allen’s challenge and took the freekick for Pessina to redirect the ball past the Welsh goalkeeper.

The first half ended with a much changed side of Italy still showing the desire to win the game while Wales struggled to trouble the Italian goalkeeper.

Italy could have doubled their goal tally after a freekick by Federico Bernardeschi hit the post in the 52nd minute.

Unfortunately for Wales, Ethan Ampadu received a straight red card after stepping on Bernardeschi’s foot, leaving Wales playing with 10 men for the rest of the game, and more importantly Ampadu will miss their crucial last 16 match.

Gareth Bale should have equalised in the 75th minute when Joe Rodon redirected a freekick to the back post with Bale completely unmarked but volleyed the ball over the top of the bar.

The game ended 1-0 to the Italians to keep up their impressive winning streak in the Euros and more impressively not conceding a single goal yet. While for Wales, finishing 2nd on the table means qualification to the knockout phase which means they could emulate their previous Euro run.

Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 via Twitter

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