Italy were forced into a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria after an invigorating first 20 minutes, as substitute Eder's 84th minute effort saved them a point.

The game started in Italy’s favour with their first chance coming within the first minute Ciro Immobile took a right-footed from the right side of the Bulgaria box but, Nikolay Mihaylov did well to get down to his bottom left corner and save the ball.

Italy took a quick lead in the game and it came from an own goal. Yordan Minev was the unlucky defender to get a nick off a cross from Italy and put it past his own keeper to make it 1-0.

Antonio Candreva almost added to Italy’s lead in the 6th minute as he took a direct free-kick from just outside the box and hit it just wide of the left post.

In the 7th minute, Bulgaria came into the game with a shot from Ivelin Popov. The ball was hit into the box by Stanislav Manolev and he found Popov in the centre of the box but, his shot was easily blocked.

Mihail Aleksandrov kept the attack going just a minute later as he was found by Ilian Micanski’s cross and his shot was blocked in the centre of the box, it was reminiscent of the earlier chance by Popov.

In the 11th minute, Bulgaria pulled the game back to 1-1 as Manolev found Popov around 25 yards out and he took the ball past the two defenders who were near him with a clever touch and smacked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to level up the game.

Bulgaria carried on attacking as Georgi Milanov had a shot saved from outside the box just two minutes after their equalising goal.

Italy found some possession after some time as Immobile played the ball through to Simone Zaza. The player took a shot but it was easily blocked by the Bulgarian defence and it was cleared.

Bulgaria took the lead in the 16th minute because of a spot of brilliance by Micanski. Milanov crossed the ball into the box where Micanski was the only Bulgarian attacker. He jumped between two Italian defenders and scored a diving header to make the game 2-1.

Until the 20th minute, the game became scrappy with Bulgaria trying to slow down the attacking intent from Italy. But, Ciro Immobile managed to break through due to a set-play cross by Marco Verratti. Immobile headed the ball towards the goal but Mihaylov produced a very good save.

The game went silent again due to the play being slowed down. Bulgaria conceded quite a few free-kicks and Italy constantly tackled to try and get the game back to an even score.

In the 32nd minute, Italy had another shot blocked as Zaza found himself some space from outside the Bulgaria box.

Bulgaria almost made a third goal in the 37th minute as Popov hits the bar from a shot from outside the box. The shot came from a free-kick that was won by Micanski.

Italy finished the first half strong with shots from Leonardo Bonnucci and Matteo Darmian as they were all on-target but, they all ended up being blocked as the Bulgarian's tried to hold onto their lead for half time.

The game had a delay just before the half as Darmian had a cut on his face and was bleeding onto the pitch. The Italian physios cleaned it up and swiftly moved the player off the pitch.

The second half started with a delay as Andrea Bertolacci went down after conceding a foul. The player picked up a slight injury as the Bulgarian he fouled seemed to kick the back of his leg as they both hit the floor.

Italy started the half on the attack as they managed a few corners but they were unable to create a clear chance until the 56th minute. Candreva found Immobile on the right side of the Bulgarian box and he took a snapshot. The shot flew over the net and the game stayed 2-1.

Bulgaria were unable to create a single chance in the first 15 minutes of the second half and Italy kept pressing. Verratti took a shot from the edge of the area but like their last shot, it went way over the bar.

The chance after that wasn’t until the 68th minute. Immobile took a right-footed shot from the outside of the area and it was saved well by Mihaylov and Bertolacci took another shot but he missed the target as he aimed for the top left corner.

In the 71st minute another player went down injured, this time it was a Bulgarian, Mihail Alexandrov. He seemed to get up and have nothing wrong with him..

Candreva had a chance to shoot in the 77th minute but, his shot from the outside of the area completely missed the target.

Italy equalised the game in the 84th minute as substitute Eder showed some brilliant dribbling rounding the defender who was marking him. He touched the ball just in front of him and drove the ball into the top right corner of the net. The Bulgarian keeper had no chance as the game went to 2-2.

Manolo Gabbiadini almost pushed the game into Italy’s favour as in the 86th minute, Immobile headed the ball towards the substitute who took a left-footed shot from inside the area. The shot narrowly missed the goal.

The game was a bit rough until the end of the game with the referee brandishing yellow cards to multiple players. Both Soriano and Darmian picked up cards in the space of two minutes.

The last chance of the game fell to Italy as they took a throw in and Verratti tried to play the ball into the box but, exhaustion set in and he fell whilst kicking it. The ball flew out of play and game finished 2-2.

This result leaves Italy in second place in Group H on 11 points behind Croatia who beat third place Norway 5-1 earlier in the day. Bulgaria are struggling in the group, only winning one of their five games so far.

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About the author
Jake Parker
Jake is an 19-year-old Sports Journalist at Staffordshire University who joined this site in March 2015. He writes about the Premier League, and predominantly Manchester United. He is also a follower of his hometown club, Fleetwood Town. Twitter - @jakelewisparker.