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Poland welcomed Italy to the Silesian Stadium for a UEFA Nations League clash, with the loser of the tie set to face relegation from their league.
It was the visiting team who prevailed, courtesy of a stoppage-time winner from left-back Cristiano Biraghi. The Fiorentina man was at the back post for a corner and pounced on a loose ball to break Polish hearts.
Both the sides had chances to win the game, and Italy had the bulk of the lot. It looked as though the game was heading towards a stalemate before Biraghi popped up with the late goal.
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Itlay dominated possession, and Poland had to remain content with the odd counter-attack. Roberto Mancini's men deservedly won the game, albeit with a late and dramatic winner.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Italy need a proper 'Number 9'
Roberto Mancini deployed an attacking trident of Lorenzo Insigne, Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi. The Italy coach opted for a similar attack against Ukraine as well, even though he has a potent striker in the form of Ciro Immobile on the bench.
All three forwards who started are talented, but none of them is an orthodox striker. They created a healthy amount of chances, and all three attackers were guilty of missing a couple.
Bernardeschi, in particular, had some glorious chances to score, and he wasted them. Insigne also had a great chance in the first half and he could only hit the woodwork. The link-up play between the trio was very good, but the final finish was found wanting.
Patrick Cutrone, Andrea Bellotti, and Mario Balotelli were not in the squad for various reasons, and arguably they could have helped the Azzurri.
#2 Poland persist with two strikers despite being dominated in midfield
Robert Lewandowski was partnered by Arkadiusz Milik in attack and this strategy failed to pay off for Poland.
Italy dominated the ball for large parts of the game, which was due to their superiority in the centre of the park. Jorginho, Marco Verratti, and Nicolo Barella held up the ball well in midfield and did not give many chances for their Polish counterparts to take it off them.
Whenever Italy had the ball, the game was played in Poland's half, which rendered the two Polish strikers upfield useless. Coach Jerzy Brzeczek decided against tweaking his tactics and continued with the two strikers, and Itlay continued to dominate the game and create chances.
Italy's wastefulness in front of goal meant that the game was in the balance till the end, and altering the formation could have turned the tables for Poland.
#3 Jorginho and Verratti run the show for Italy
Italy dominated the possession, and much of it was down to the duo of Jorginho and Verratti. Both of them were impeccable on the ball, rotating it effectively and keeping it out of the reach of their opponents. They showed great composure and awareness, and it helped Italy bombard the Polish goal constantly.
Jorginho had 124 touches, and Verratti had 134. No player on the night other than these two crossed 85. Only two Polish players crossed 50, and one of them was goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.
The likes of Insigne and Bernardeschi were finding pockets of spaces between the lines, and they were picked out immediately by these two. Mancini's attack may be finding scoring goals hard at the moment, but that is not a good reflection of the performances of the two midfield maestros.
#4 Things are looking bleak for Poland
Poland have not won a game after the World Cup, a tournament in which they were knocked out after just two games.
The problem for Poland has been the same as always. They just have not been able to provide much support to their talisman Robert Lewandowski. Against Italy, they were dominated in every aspect, and only some lackluster finishing from the Azzurri meant that the scoreline was not harsh.
Coach Jerzy Brzeczek has young talent at his disposal in the form of Piotr Zielinski and Krzysztof Piatek, but he has not been able to unleash their full potential. He does not know his best starting eleven, which was evidenced by his double change at half-time against Italy.
All is not lost though for Poland, and they can still qualify for the Euros if Brzeczek makes the changes needed.
#5 Mancini finally getting results to validate his progress
Roberto Mancini took over in May, and he was handed the task of rejuvenating a listless Italy side. The side he inherited was aging, and he had to bring some young faces in.
His side slowly began to play according to his preaching, and it was a possession-based brand of football. The likes of Jorginho and Verratti marshaled the midfield, and Insigne and Immobile spearheaded the attack.
But the results were not coming, and the pressure was mounting on him. Prior to the game, they had won just 1 game out of the last 10, which is a terrible number. But Italy were brilliant against Poland, creating loads of chances albeit lacking a finishing touch. Hopefully, the win against Poland can prove to be the turning point for Italy and Mancini.
