Roberto Mancini's Italy travelled to Armenia looking to make it six wins out of their last six matches. They were playing a side who were buoyed off an impressive 2-3 away win against Greece in their previous qualifier, finding themselves with six points in four games and in with a chance of reaching Euro 2020. 

First Half

Armenia started the half much the better team. The hosts were aggressive in their play and dominated the ball, pinning the Italian's into their half. Their pressure told in the 10th minute, as a mistake by Nico Barella was capitalised on by Barseghyan; who sprinted the length of the pitch and slid in Karapetian through on goal. The forward made no mistake in sliding the ball past a helpless Donnarumma.

Italy eventually woke up after conceding, however, as the likes of Marco Verratti and Jorginho began to find themselves on the ball more frequently, allowing the Italian's to dominate the play. 

Eventually, this resulted in chances for Italy. Bernadeschi had the most guilt-edged, as he pounced onto a loose ball in the box and attempted to steer the ball into the bottom corner with his weaker right foot, only to be denied by an excellent save.

On the 27th minute, Italy's relentless pressure broke Armenia's resistance. Emerson continued his positive start to the season at Chelsea, beating his man and whipping a dangerous ball to the far post, which was comfortably tapped home by Andrea Belotti.

Just 30 seconds after the goal, Bernadeschi could, and maybe should, have made it 1-2. He ran onto a loose ball by the Armenian defence, opened up his body, and attempted to curl the ball into the top corner. The woodwork came to Armenia's rescue, as his shot clipped the frame of the goal.

Italy finished the half suffocating Armenia in their half, winning the ball high up the pitch which did not allow the hosts to relieve themselves of the pressure they were under. Belotti was the most guilty of missing chances as he could have scored three goals on another day. The Torino man strayed offside when attempting to get on the end of a delightful through ball by Jorginho and could not sort his feet out when Federico Chiesa hooked the ball back in his direction.

The half ended sourly for Armenia, as their goalscorer found himself getting sent off as he was accused of elbowing Juventus' centre-back Leonardo Bonucci. Replays suggested there was minimal contact, but Karapetian was guilty of needless rough play on Jorginho and Veratti throughout the half.

Second Half

The half started in the same pattern as the first as Italy had another goal disallowed on the 50th minute. Emerson was the unfortunate man who had his goal ruled out after the ball was accused of drifting out of play just before Belotti hooked the ball into the danger zone.

However, as the half developed, so did Armenia's confidence. Throughout most of the half, the host's were the better side. Although they did not dominate possession, which was understandable due to being a man down, the forward runs of left-back, Hovhannisyan were a constant threat which Florenzi and co struggled to deal with. If it were not for the tactical foul by Nico Barella on Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for example, Armenia would have been through on goal with only Donnarumma to beat.

Armenia's legs inevitably grew heavier throughout the half which meant the quick breakaways became less frequent. Eventually, it was a superb cross by Bonucci which found the head of Lorenzo Pellegrini in the 76th minute which broke the heart of the Armenian supporters. Pellegrini guided the ball into the far corner, leaving Aram Hayrapetyan watching the ball go into the corner of his goal.

The Armenia keeper was also left feeling hard done to when Belotti turned sharply in the box and hit the ball which his weaker left foot. The effort hit the post and hit the back of Hayrapetyan's head and rolled into the box. A goal which summed up the luck Armenia experienced throughout the match.

Italy regained control following the two goals and created chances against a tired and defeated Armenia. A goal was wrongly disallowed for Belotti as he was deemed to be offside when the excellent Emerson whipped in another dangerous cross and Pellegrini could have made the most of a defensive error.

The final whistle blew and Roberto Mancini wore the face of a man relieved to have overcome what was a tricky match, played on a pitch which did not suit the playmakers Italy had on display.

Takeaways

Italy did what they have struggled to do in the past six or so years - win ugly. They were not at their best today, nor did they have the fluidity they have shown in their recent revival, but the Azzurri found a way to head back home with all three points. Jorginho, Verratti and Barella all have impressive technical ability and love to play intricate football, but this was a difficult task on a pitch which did not allow for that style of football. Therefore it was impressive that despite not being at their best, Italy overcame a difficult opposition and have all-but qualified for Euro 2020.

Italy has an exciting future. With the likes of Nico Barella, Gigi Donnarumma, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Federico Chiesa on the field, along with Moise Kean, Nicola Zanniolo and Riccardo Orsolini all with the under 21 squad, there is no doubting that Italian fans have many reasons to believe that the good times could return. With a young and talented manager in Roberto Mancini, the sky is the limit for the Azzurri.

Armenia showed that they are a nation on the rise. With a 32,000 seater pending, aims of qualifying for a major tournament by 2026 and a woman's team on the verge of forming, Armenia have shown they want to develop as a country. This was clear throughout the match. For a large portion of the match, they were more than a match for Italy, even when down to 10 men after an extremely harsh red card. Star player Mkhitaryan showed to his future teammates and rivals of Serie A that he is a player of immense quality and will continue to be an inspiration for millions of young, aspiring Armenians.

Key Players

Left-back Hovhannisyan was superb throughout the match. Constantly sprinting the length of the pitch with the ball at his feet allowed his team to be relieved of the pressure that Italy put on Armenia due to their man advantage.

Emerson continued his strong start of the season for Chelsea for his national side. He set up Belotti for Italy's first goal of the game and should have had another assist as he whipped in a perfect cross for the onside Belotti. Playing more as a left-winger throughout the game, the Chelsea wing-back was arguably Italy's most dangerous player during the match.