Italy beat Turkey 4:1 in the UEFA Nations League, League A, on September 28th at the Atatürk Sports Complex. The visitors took control early and never looked back, despite a brief spell where the hosts thought they could get back into it. Three goals in the opening thirty minutes set the tone, and by then Italy were already looking comfortable. The result leaves them level on points with Turkey, though they sit a place lower in the table.
Bastoni opened the scoring in the ninth minute, a well-worked move that caught the Turkish defence asleep. Frattesi doubled the lead soon after, and then Kayode pulled one back for the hosts just before the half-hour mark. Turkey had momentum, but three substitutions at the break changed everything. Raspadori, Demiral, Can Yilmaz Uzun and Kökçü all came on, and by forty-seven minutes Baris Alper Yilmaz had equalised. It was touch and go for a while, but Esposito restored Italy's lead five minutes later.
And here's the thing — the statistics tell a different story to what anyone watching might have expected. Turkey had 54 per cent possession and 133 attacks, but their shot accuracy was twenty per cent. Eight shots on target for Italy against three for the hosts. Expected goals were 2.39 to 1.86, and that is what mattered. They created better chances and took them when it counted.
Turkey had three yellow cards by the end — Uzun, Baris Alper Yilmaz and Kabak — while Italy kept a clean sheet on cards. The visitors made fewer passes but were more efficient, completing 426 of their 499. The hosts had 570 total passes with 487 successful. It is easy to see who was playing with more control, even if the numbers say otherwise. To be fair, the atmosphere must have been against the visitors from the start.
Both sides enter this phase of the competition with one loss each and no points. Turkey lost to France on Wednesday, while Italy were beaten 2:0 by Belgium. They are on the brink of a move in the group, and this result helps them hold their nerve. The hosts will need to regroup quickly — four straight defeats would be a serious problem.
